Locking doors and Finding love
by adelea
Summary: Momo Hinamori is living with a family friend and his nephew, Toshiro Hitsugaya, while attending a new high school. How will her sophomore year unfold? Read to find out! : D
1. The would be family

_Today's the day!_ Momo Hinamori thought as she rose from her bed. She got up and quickly put on the clothes she had laid out the night before. She brushed her teeth, and put her toothbrush, the last remaining item to be packed, in her luggage. She carried the bag downstairs and greeted her family. This would be one of their last family breakfasts for a while.

Today was the day Momo was leaving to go her new high school, Parker High. It was one of the best in the country. She would be living with a family friend until she finished high school in 3 years. It was an awesome opportunity for Momo, to be accepted into such an amazing school, and she was brimming with excitement.

But, despite her excitement, Momo was also sort of scared. She had never met the man she would be living with before, although she was told he was very kind. His name was Jushiro Ukitake, and he lived with his nephew and his mother. She was told Ukitake had quite an amount of money and lived in a very nice home. Apparently, he also had tuberculosis, although most of the time he was able to live quite a healthy life style.

She didn't know much about his mother, or his nephew, although she was told his nephew was in a similar situation as she. He was living with Ukitake to attend Parker High, but his parents continued to live somewhere else. He was also a sophomore, like Momo. He had been living with Ukitake a year at least.

When the time finally came, Momo's parents said goodbye to her at the airport, as Momo boarded the plane alone. After a long plane ride, with many thoughts about what her new home would be like, the plane finally landed and Momo grabbed her belongings and went to look for Ukitake. She had been given a picture, and a description of what he would be wearing so she could locate him.

Suddenly she spotted him.

"Mr. Ukitake?" She asked as she approached him.

"Momo!" He said gushing over her, "It's been so long since I've seen you! How was your plane ride? Oh... I know you're just going to love it here!" Ukitake pulled her into a hug. "Well, I'm sure you're tired so we'll just grab your bags and head on to the house!"

Momo nodded. The two retrieved all her bags and headed to his car. After they loaded it up, they took of, and after a nice car ride filled with light conversation they arrived at Ukitake's home, and whoa! Her parent's hadn't been lying about him being rich.

His house was quite large, and had 3 floors. The top floor had a long lovely balcony stretching across the top.

"Wow! It's so beautiful!" Momo said.

"It is. Your room will be that one," He said, pointing to one of the doors that lead out onto the balcony.

Momo was amazed, but her amazement only grew as the two entered the home. It was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. There were many, many pictures that lined the walls. Many of them showed Ukitake with other people, and Momo even saw a few of her parents, and other friends she recognized.

Ukitake gave her the grand tour, and finally he showed her to her room, which was on the third floor. The third floor was smaller than the other floors. It only had a small hallway like room, and two doors. He led Momo to the door on the right, he told her to put her things anywhere and there were empty drawers labeled for her in the bathroom. Then he bade her goodbye, so she could have time to settle in. He told her he would be back later, when dinner was ready, and he would introduce him to his mother and nephew. Momo politely said goodbye and shut the door. She was quite tired.

Momo began to inspect her room. It was quite large. It was peach colored, and seemed like a very nice hotel room. There was a queen-sized bed, two big chairs, a desk with a huge mirror, and a couple of tables.

There were a total of four doors in the room. One of them lead to the hallway, and another lead to a nice closet. Another was a glass door, covered with nice peach colored cloth curtains. Momo opened the last door that led to the bathroom. It had two sinks and a toilet on the left and a shower bath on the right. On the near side of the room, Momo was able to locate the drawers that were labeled for her. Aside from a few towels, that side of the room was very bare, however the other side was very cluttered. There was an empty laundry bin, toothpaste, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, shampoo, and other bottles and such.

Opposite the way she came in was another door; it was shut. Momo walked towards it and put her hand on the handle, slowly and cautiously. She turned it and began to push. The door slowly opened, but then stopped. There was a ball-and-chain lock on the other side. Momo peered in as far as she could see.

This was another bedroom, which would have been almost identical to hers had it not been for the light blue color-theme, and the huge mess. This room was very messy indeed. Clothes were all over the floor near the closet door, and the bed was completely unmade, the white comforter was totally mangled only half way on the bed. There was a pile of used soccer gear on the floor, and a soccer ball. Momo also saw a door leading onto the balcony, similar to the one in her room, but these curtains were not closed.

Momo shut the door, and went onto the balcony, hoping to get a better look at this room. After finding this door, like the other, was locked, she peered into the room. The parts of the room she couldn't see before, gave no surprise to her. They were just as messy as the rest of the room. However, she did see a few picture frames, but the only picture she could really see was the largest one. It showed a cute young boy, with a younger, healthier-looking man that was probably Ukitake.

Momo didn't recognize the boy though, he had white hair, and green eyes, he seemed to be scowling a bit, but he did look happy in his own way. Momo was still looking around the room when the door inside the room began to open. Quickly, Momo ducked around the balcony until she was out of sight from the room. She heard the curtains shut, and crept back into her own room.

_Maybe that's his nephew's room._ Momo thought, _Come to think of it… I actually don't know what his nephew looks like… I don't even know his name._ Momo began to unpack some of her belongings; _Ukitake said I would see him at dinner…_

Suddenly Momo heard gushing water, someone had turned on the shower in the bathroom between the two bedrooms. Momo wasn't sure what to do. She didn't know who was in there, and she wasn't sure they knew she was in the other room. Finally, she decided to just ignore it, and hope that nobody came into her room without any clothes on, or anything... She continued to unpack her things.

After a few minutes the water turned off. Whoever they were, they took a quick shower. Instinctively, Momo looked up from what she was doing to watch the door. The doorknob quivered a bit and the door moved ever so slightly, enough to let Momo know someone was definitely on the other side of that door.

She heard a click and nothing happened. _They must have been unlocking the door, _Momo thought; _so, they did know I was in here after all. Why else would they lock the door?_ Momo concluded, but something bothered her, _I'm sure it's not Ukitake, he would have said something, but if it's not him, and they knew I was here, why didn't they introduce themselves?_

Momo continued to think as she placed the last of her clothes into her closet. The only thing left to unpack was her toiletries, which needed to be placed in the bathroom. Even though whoever had been in there had unlocked the door, Momo was a bit afraid to go in there. But, Momo decided that if the door was unlocked then it must be okay to go in there. Besides, she didn't know what else she would do, and she wasn't about to sit around the room being awkward. So, she finally opened the door, and to her relief, the bathroom was empty.

It was quite steamy in the bathroom, and the floor was wet in some places. Condensation was on the mirror. Someone defiantly had taken a shower. Momo wandered around the room, looking for some sort of clue as to who had been in here. She noticed the laundry bin, that had previously been empty was no longer empty. She peered inside. She felt like a stalker, but she was too curious to care.

At the top of the laundry basket was a soccer jersey. Cautiously, Momo pulled it out, praying that the owner would not suddenly walk in. She held it out in front of her. Whoever wore it couldn't have been that much larger than she. She turned it to the back, _#20, Hitsugaya._ She stared at it a bit longer. _Hitsugaya,_ she thought, _that must be Ukitake's nephew._ Suddenly she remembered what she was doing, and the stalker feeling took precedence. She dropped the jersey back into the bin and went back to her side of the bathroom and inspected all the drawers, deciding what would go where.

After Momo was satisfied that everything was put away, she laid down on the bed. She had promised her parents she would call at some point that night, when she had gotten settled in, but she didn't feel like doing it right now. So, instead, she just lay there thinking until she heard a knock on the door.

"Momo?" Ukitake's voice came through the door.

"You can come in." Momo said, sitting up.

The door opened, "It's time for dinner, I wasn't sure if you had any likes or dislikes towards certain foods, so I just made pizza. Everyone likes pizza after all."

Momo grinned, "Great! I do like pizza!" She got off the bed and headed towards the door.

"You can head on towards the dinning room," Ukitake said, "You remember where that is?" Momo nodded, "Great, I'm just going to tell my nephew. We'll be down shortly." Momo nodded once more, and headed downstairs towards the dinning room.

Momo arrived in the dinning room to find a relatively plump old lady already sitting down at the table. The lady was humming to herself, and didn't seem to notice Momo's arrival. Momo cleared her throat a bit, and the lady looked up. There was silence for a moment, as the two stared at each other. Suddenly the lady smiled.

"Momo." The old woman said, "You're taller! It's been to long! Sit, sit!" The lady motioned for Momo to sit in the chair across from her. The table sat six people, in a one by two formation. The places were set at one head, with one place on the right and two places on the left. The woman sat at the sole place on the right side, and Momo took her seat across from her. It looked like she would be sitting between Ukitake and this mysterious _Hitsugaya._

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember who you are…" Momo said awkwardly.

"Of course you don't!" The lady said, a smile still at large across her face, "Just call me Granny. I'm Toshiro's grandmother, and Ukitake's mother."

_Toshiro… hmm? Toshiro Hitsugaya. That's a pretty hot name._ Momo found herself thinking against her will, she shook those thoughts.

"Thank you, Granny." Momo said kindly.

"No need to be polite," Granny said, "As long as you are here, you are family!"

Momo was secretly relieved, she was almost afraid Ukitake's mother would be strict, or mean, or silent, or awkward… the list went on.

Suddenly Ukitake walked in, with someone following behind him, presumably his nephew. Ukitake sat at the head of the table and his nephew sat next to Momo, but Momo still hadn't gotten a good look at his face. When he sat down, she didn't look at him, it felt… weird, considering she sort of rifled through his laundry.

"Momo, I'd like you to meet my nephew, Toshiro Hitsugaya. Toshiro, this is Momo Hinamori." Ukitake introduced the two, and for the very first time, Momo turned to look at her new housemate, her would-be family for the next three years.

**Author's notes:**

Thanks for reading! This is my first fan-fiction, so please review!

And, in-case you are wondering why I named the high school Parker High; I'll tell you. I had no idea what to name the high school, so I named it after my cat. Yeah. Great reason, I know.  Please review!


	2. Out of earshot

His eyes.

Wow.

They were amazing.

They were bluish green orbs… staring right at her.

His hair.

Whoa.

It was white, and wet, and seemed to defy gravity.

This boy…

Whoa.

He was so damn cute, and so damn hot. All at the same time…

It was after Momo Hinamori noticed all this that she noticed that he was staring right back at her, and their faces were only about six inches apart.

She immediately withdrew, backing up as far as she could, and he followed her example and did the same.

"Nice to meet you, Hinamori…" He murmured. Momo muttered some barely audible sound in response.

"He just came home from soccer practice, and then took a shower." Ukitake said, trying to explain the boy's wet hair.

"I know," Momo said, then the table's response gave her the need to explain, "I mean, I heard the water running, you know. And the bathroom was steamy, and stuff…." Her voice trailed off at the end. _Oh god. Way to make things awkward, Hinamori._ She thought to herself.

Ukitake seemed to take this explanation fine, and continued on, trying to make things less awkward for poor Momo, "Toshiro is on the soccer team at Parker High," Ukitake continued, "He was a starter last year as a freshman. The team is quite good; they began practicing for the school season a few weeks ago, even though school won't start until next week." Momo nodded, and when it seemed no one had anything left to say, Ukitake continued, "The coach believes Toshiro could get a scholarship to any college he wants by the time he's a senior."

"That's great." Momo said. Toshiro made some inaudible noise, in gratitude she supposed.

The rest of the dinner was similar to this. Ukitake did all the talking, as Momo and Granny would say random things, and Toshiro would make random noises. It was unbearably awkward to Momo, especially sitting next to Toshiro, and the only thing on her mind was how hot he was, and how damn close he was sitting.

But, finally, the dinner came to a close, and Toshiro was the first one gone. Granny and Ukitake began to clear the table. Momo offered to help, but they suggested she go call her parents, and take more time to get settled. So Momo headed up to her room.

She sat down in one of the large (and quite comfy) armchairs and picked up the phone, she was about to dial when she heard something. Someone was already using the phone…

Even though she knew she shouldn't, curiosity got the better of Momo for the second time that day, and she placed the phone next to her ear, trying to silence her breathing as much as she could.

"What's she like, Capitan?" An upbeat woman's voice was heard over the phone.

"Well, her name's Momo…" That was Toshiro's voice, "Uh… She seems nice I guess… Uh… She doesn't really talk much… "

"She's probably just scared by your intimidating-ly-hot presence." Toshiro grunted, and the woman seemed to take that as means to continue, "So, Capitan, what's she look like, is she hot?"

Toshiro was quiet, "Hmmm… I guess… She has brown hair… Geez, I dunno…."

_Wait… Did he just say he thought I was hot?_ Momo smiled to herself.

"Oohhh, Capitan thinks she's hot. That's so cute!"

"Don't be stupid, Matsumoto. It's not like I like her or anything!"

That one hurt.

"I think you do." The woman, Matsumoto, said teasingly.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"SHUT UP, MATSUMOTO!"

Momo heard that one from the room next door, which reminded her, she ought to hang up soon, before she got caught. Right as she was going to hang up, something made her stop.

"Oi, Capitan. That hurt my ear."

"Look, Matsumoto the reason I called you was because my uncle wanted me to ask you something. He wants you to hang out with Momo some this weekend. He wants her to make friends or feel comfortable, or whatever… Would you please do it?"

"Of course, Capitan!"

"Thanks."

"So, how's soccer going, Capitan?"

Momo hung up after that. After about thirty minutes of reading, Momo picked up the phone to find the line empty. Toshiro must have finished talking to Matusmoto. Momo called her parents, and after they were done, Momo hung up. She went to go brush her teeth.

She opened the bathroom door to find someone was already there; it was Toshiro. He didn't look up. He spat out the toothpaste and wiped his mouth on a towel lying on the counter, and without acknowledging her he left through his side of the bathroom. Shortly after, she heard a chain rattle and click. He'd locked the door.

Momo was quite upset. _This Matsumoto person is quite wrong…___Momo thought to herself as she brushed her teeth, _There is __no__ way Toshiro could like me. It seems like he can't even stand me…_ After she finished, Momo put away her toothbrush and left the bathroom on her side. She stood looking at the door for a minute, and decided to lock it. She did it as loud as she could, and hoped he heard it.

Finally Momo changed into her pajamas, and went to bed, leaving open her curtains, and staring out into the night, as moonlight lit up random patterns in the room.

Momo awoke the next morning, a Saturday, and looked at the clock. It was about ten. Momo quickly got dressed and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. To her pleasure, Toshiro wasn't there, and Momo went downstairs.

"Momo!" Ukitake said as he looked up from his paper to notice Momo, "How did you sleep?"

"Wonderfully, thank you. My room is quite comfortable." Momo answered politely.

"I'm glad," Ukitake smiled, "The rest of us have already eaten breakfast, but please help yourself to anything you can find in the kitchen. I'm an early riser, and Toshiro had soccer practice this morning. My mother is probably in her room reading. If I can help you with anything, please let me know…" Ukitake slowed down as Momo tried to remember everything he had said, "Oh, also our neighbor called. Her name is Rangiku Matusmoto. She heard that you would be living with us and wanted to greet you and maybe hang out today. She also goes to Parker High, and is friends with Toshiro. Her number is on the fridge, so you should give her a call." With that, Ukitake looked back down at his paper, and Momo thanked him and went to the kitchen.

_Rangiku Matsumoto…_ Momo thought, _that's who Toshiro was talking with on the phone yesterday._ Momo took a moment to find the bowls, cereal, milk, and silverware, but finally located all four, and poured herself some cereal. She sat at the kitchen counter and pondered whether or not to call Rangiku Matsumoto. After all, because of what she heard on the phone, she knew that Rangiku had not been the one to suggest the two hang out, but of course, Rangiku seemed to be nice, and good friends with Toshiro. So, in the end, Momo decided to call her. She grabbed the sticky note with Rangiku's number on it, and headed up to her room.

"Hello?" Rangiku answered the phone.

"Hi. Rangiku? This is Momo Hinamori, I'm living with Mr. Ukitake." Momo said into the phone.

"OH! HI! MOMO! NICE TO MEET YOU!" Rangiku gushed into the phone, "We should totally hang out today! I can show you all the cool places in town!"

_Wow,_ Momo thought, _She is really friendly._ "Of course!" Momo said, "Please!"

"Cool! I'll meet you in front of your house in like 20 minutes, okay?"

"Sure, see you then!" Momo hung up. She then began her attempt to recall where she had put her purse…

After 20 minutes, Momo went outside to meet Rangiku. A woman began walking towards her. A woman with a very large chest…

"Are you Momo?" Momo nodded, "HELLO!" Momo felt herself being enveloped by Rangiku's huge chest.

"N-nice to meet you!" Momo said, a bit shocked by Rangiku, whose top was quite revealing…

"I'm Rangiku Matsumoto, senior at Parker High. So. Momo, let's begin our tour!"

Rangiku and Momo set off on foot, with some light conversation.

"So, I take it you've met Capitan?" Rangiku said.

"Capitan?" Momo said, remembering that she wouldn't know Rangiku was referring to Toshiro, had she not overheard their conversation.

"Toshiro." Rangiku said, as though it were obvious.

"Oh. Yes I have. My room is next to his… But, why do you call him Capitan?" Momo asked.

"Hmm, I don't even remember, I've been calling him that since he was really little. I guess it was because he was such a bossy little boy."

"You knew him when he was little? I thought he only moved here last year." Momo said.

"Yeah, he only moved here last year. But he's been coming here every summer since he was 5 or so. He says his parents are busy people. He says they thought it was easier to send him here." Rangiku told her, "But he always says he likes it here better anyway. He was quite glad when he moved here permanently. He says when he gets out of high school, he probably won't move back. He thinks he'll stay here."

Momo wasn't sure what to say so she just said, "Oh."

"Oooh!" Rangiku cooed, "We're here!" They had arrived at a street full of cute little boutiques. The two began their shopping!

After about an hour, the two headed on, they didn't get to all of the shops, but Rangiku seemed to be in a hurry to get to the next place.

"This," Rangiku said as the arrived at their destination, "Is Burk Park. It's where the boy's soccer team practices before school starts. Come on, let's watch for a bit."

The two girls made their way to some bleachers, where many other girls were sitting and watching. Momo and Rangiku sat out of earshot from the other girls. Rangiku began to point out and describe what various members of the team were like, including an Ichigo Kurosaki, an Uryu Ishida, a Renji Abari, and many others.

"There sure are a lot of people here to support the team…" Momo said.

Rangiku chuckled, "There aren't here to support the team… They are here to watch a certain someone."

"Who?" Momo asked, really curiously now.

"He's right there, in blue. See, number 20." Rangiku pointed.

Momo looked, but she knew before she recognized the un-mistakable white hair, _#20, Hitsugaya._

"Toshiro?" Momo asked, "All these girls are here to watch him?"

"Yup. I mean look at him! He's hot right? Not that I dig him, of course, but seriously. No girl alive can deny that boy has looks." Rangiku said, quite seriously, "He is the most popular kid in the whole school, including the upper-classes. Although sometimes I don't understand how... The kid doesn't exactly have the most award winning personality if you know what I mean."

"Hmm," was all Momo said, because now, she too, was totally caught up in the kingdom of Toshiro. Because that kid was hot.

They watched for a while, and soon their practice was over. Toshiro looked exhausted, Momo could tell, even though she was pretty far away. Suddenly he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing his gorgeous chest. He started pouring water into his mouth, most of it running down his perfect body.

Momo started blushing and Rangiku scoffed. "Just giving them a show. What a little show-off Capitan can be."

"Y-yeah…" Momo agreed silently, still staring at Toshiro. He was kind of far away, but even still, so good to look at.

Rangiku turned to look at Momo. She laughed to herself, "Eh- Momo, stop your drooling and let's go!"

"I-I wasn't drooling!" Momo retorted.

"Right." Rangiku said, and laughed as the two headed on.

Rangiku walked Momo back to her house, and the two departed, but not before making plans to hang out again soon.

Momo headed upstairs to her room. It was about two in the afternoon, Matsumoto and Momo and already eaten lunch while they were out. Momo was excited. She was glad to have finally made her first friend, yet still kind of surprised about Toshiro, and still a bit flustered about him removing his shirt. Even though it had been kind of far away. She would have liked a closer look… and- whoa! What was she thinking? Momo needed to clear up her thoughts with a splash of water in the face.

She went to the bathroom door, and quickly opened the door and who should be there, but the man of the hour! _#20_ _Toshiro Hitsugaya._

He still hadn't put his shirt back on.

**Author's Notes:**

In case you were wondering, yes, my title chapters will probably continue to be this weird.


	3. Waiting until deliria

_Oh my god. _

_Holy Fudge 'n chips._

Well.

She got her closer look.

He was standing right in front of the door, just staring at her.

She was about two feet away from him.

The perfect view.

They just stared at each other for a moment, both looking just as surprised as the other.

"I was locking the door," Toshiro finally got out, his voice cracked a bit, "I was gonna take a shower…" He adverted his eyes.

"R-right. Of course!" Momo said, stuttering, then shut the door right in his face.

_Oh my god. _ Momo thought, staring at the shut door; _that was incredibly awkward._

She covered her face with her hands then moved them to her shoulders as she stared at the ceiling.

Why, oh why did she have to be so awkward around him? _Well, its only day two. Things will get better… I hope._

Momo spent the rest of the day in her room. She didn't see Toshiro at all. Momo set up her laptop and sent emails to her friends, whom she had promised to keep in touch with. She dwindled around the room, reading, doodling, and just lying on the bed.

It wasn't until around six in the evening that Ukitake came up to get Momo for dinner. The two went to the dinning room, and sat in the same spots as they had previously the night before. But, tonight, there were only three places. Toshiro's was missing.

"Please excuse Toshiro," Ukitake said as he began to fill up his plate from the dishes on the table, "His friend Ichigo from the soccer invited him over for dinner. I figured it wouldn't do any harm to let him go."

_Ichigo… I do remember Matsumoto pointing him out, _Momo thought; _Ichigo Kurosaki, #15, tall, orange hair, outspoken, and friendly. _Those had been Rangiku's exact words.

"So." Ukitake continued, "Dig in!"

The conversation this night was much lighter than the previous night, which had been unbearably awkward. Ukitake and Granny asked Momo many things about her interests and such. Every now and then Toshiro's name would come up, and Momo would just say things like, 'Oh,' or 'That's cool,' or 'That's nice.'

After dinner, Momo once again offered to help clean up, but again, Ukitake and Granny told her they had it covered. She was beginning to think they enjoyed doing it. Which was fine, because Momo didn't. So, she headed upstairs and chilled out for the rest of the night. It was about eight when Momo decided to pick up the phone to call her parents.

And, to her surprise, some one was already on the phone.

"Capitan," It was Rangiku. _She must be talking to Toshiro…_ Momo thought.

"I saw you today, at the soccer field." Rangiku said.

"Yeah. I saw you too… With Hinamori… How'd that go?" Toshiro said.

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" Rangiku shouted over the phone, "I saw that stunt you pulled!"

"Stunt?" Toshiro said, bored-like.

"Stripping in front of all those girls!" Rangiku said, chastising her young friend.

"What the hell are you talking about?!?" Toshiro seemed really angry, "I wasn't stripping!! It was really hot outside, and, sheesh, what the hell do you want me to do?? I don't ask all those girls to come stare, you know!"

There was silence over the phone suddenly Rangiku spoke, a teasing tone in her voice, "I know why you did it."

"Cause it was hot." Toshiro said, regaining his normal composure.

"You saw me and Momo, and took off your shirt to try to impress her!" Rangiku accused.

Momo blushed from her room.

"W-What!??! That's ridiculous." Toshiro said, "Besides Hinamori isn't like those other girls, she doesn't care about stuff like that…"

She doesn't, does she?

"How would you know Capitan? You've barely said but 2 words to her."

"Well, earlier today I was getting ready to take a shower, and Hinamori opened the door," at this point Rangiku gasped, "I wasn't wearing a shirt, and Hinamori was just fine."

She was, was she?

"Seriously??!?!" Rangiku gawked, as if this was the juiciest rumor she'd ever heard, "What'd she do??"

"I dunno," Toshiro said, "Geez, Matsumoto calm down!"

"Hmm," Rangiku seemed to be thinking, "Whatever you say Capitan, not that you know anything about girls." Oddly enough, Toshiro didn't try to defend himself, "I still think you were trying to show off though." Toshiro groaned.

At this point Momo hung up the phone. She really needed to stop eavesdropping on people… She was starting to feel like a stalker.

Momo looked around. She was seriously bored. She needed to get out of this room. She opened her door, and walked towards the staircase, passing Toshiro's door on the way. It was shut, as always.

Momo headed towards the kitchen, meanwhile, Toshiro and Rangiku continued their conversation.

_Click_

"Did you hear that?" Rangiku asked.

"What?" Toshiro said.

"Sounded like someone hung up on another line…" Rangiku said, "Whoever it was, they must have been there, because there's no one at my house right now."

Toshiro thought a moment before saying, "My uncle's out, and my Granny is asleep."

"And Momo?"

Toshiro paled, he really hoped she hadn't heard that conversation, "I don't know…"

"Go check!" Rangiku said.

"And say what?"

"Tell her I wanted to talk to her, now hurry! Go!" Rangiku cried.

Toshiro got off his bed and went through the bathroom and into her room. It was empty.

He took a moment to look around, the room looked pretty much like it had before she moved into it, aside from a few things laying around, like her purse, laptop and shoes. He wanted to look around some more, but Rangiku kept shouting in his ear.

"Her room is empty." He said plainly, as he gazed around the room.

"Go downstairs then!" Rangiku said, secretly pleased with herself. She knew even if Toshiro found Momo, it wouldn't really matter any more. She had already hung up, and it's not like he could ask her if she had been listening in. Any one with common sense would deny it.

No, Rangiku knew all this, and to her delight, Toshiro had not yet realized it. Yes, Rangiku's true goal was to get Toshiro to talk to Momo. Between the two of them, Rangiku had gathered they hadn't really talked… at all. She was doing this for their own good, really she was. As soon as the two started talking… well… things could only go uphill from there.

"Found her." Toshiro said, silently into the phone.

"Why are you whispering?" She asked.

"So Hinamori won't notice me."

"Well what's she doing?"

"Making a sandwich."

"Well go talk to her!"

"No way. It'll be all awkward."

"If you don't go right now, Capitan, I will start screaming and she will notice you. Then things will be really awkward. If you don't want that, you'd better go talk to Hinamori."

"Fine. I'll tell her you wanted to talk to her." Toshiro said into the receiver than took it away from his ear and walked into the kitchen.

Momo's back was facing Toshiro who was standing in the entrance. He was just watching her, trying to think of what he was going to say, up until Momo turned around.

"EEP!" Momo cried.

"Oh-oh, Hinamori… um…. It's just me. Uh, Rangiku wanted to talk to you." Toshiro held out the phone awkwardly.

"Uh, thanks." Momo said, she hadn't quite gained her composure yet; she walked towards him and grabbed the phone, making sure not to brush hands.

"H-hello?"

"Momo!" Rangiku said, almost in disbelief that Toshiro had fallen for her plan, "How's it going?"

"Uh, good." Momo said, Toshiro's presence still making itself painstakingly aware.

"So, what have you been up to? I heard you saw Toshiro's manly chest up close!"

Momo blushed deeply, and tried to turn away so Toshiro wouldn't see, but he saw anyway. _Oh god. I wonder what Matsumoto said to make her blush like that…_ Toshiro thought, cursing himself for handing Momo the phone in the first place.

"Uh, yeah. I did." Momo said.

"Is Capitan still in the room?" Rangiku said, wondering why Momo was acting so weird.

"Yeah."

"Tell him to get lost."

"W-What? I can't do that!" Momo cried.

Once again Toshiro found himself wondering what Rangiku was saying.

"Then go upstairs to your room. It's hard to talk to you when you're acting like this."

"L-like what?"

"All stuttering and nervous-like. Just go upstairs."

Momo blushed deeper, and was so glad Toshiro was facing her back.

"Alright…" Momo turned around, and to her dismay, saw Toshiro staring at her. He looked so calm and cool just standing there in the doorway. Momo began to walk towards him. She got closer and closer and he wasn't moving. How was she supposed to get through the door?

Momo came right up to him. Neither moved, they were about a foot apart. They were just looking at each other. Then suddenly-

"MOMO?!" Rangiku's voice screamed through the telephone, "ARE YOU THERE?"

The moment ended, and Toshiro quickly moved out of her way.

Momo smiled, although her discomfort was showing through her lips. She left the room, and went upstairs.

Toshiro stared after she left, then a few minutes later, he too went back up to his room.

When he got up to his room, Toshiro laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He really would have picked up the phone and listened to their conversation, had Momo not been using it.

Since it was his phone, Momo would have to bring it back to him. Toshiro smiled when he realized this. Two hours later, he was not still smiling.

Gosh, how long could girls talk for on the phone? Momo still hadn't brought back the phone, and he could hear her talking through the wall; although he couldn't understand what was being said.

Toshiro looked at his clock. It was about ten thirty. He quickly changed into his pajamas (a big tee, and some flannel pants), praying that Hinamori wouldn't come in while he was changing. Then he brushed his teeth.

He dwindled around his room for another half hour.

It was eleven now.

He had heard running water in the bathroom a few minutes ago; Hinamori must have been brushing her teeth. But even after the water stopped, he could still hear Hinamori chatting away with Matsumoto.

Maybe, he would lay down for a little bit. Just shut his eyes, but not fall asleep.

Just for a minute…

And just after he had lain down, Toshiro found himself asleep.

Hinamori didn't get off the phone with Rangiku until one in the morning. Although, right after she hung up, she wished she hadn't. It was right then, that she realized the phone she was holding was not hers, and was Toshiro's. Of course, the to do would be to hold onto it, and give it to him in the morning, but Hinamori was to tired to think straight. She panicked for a moment, then decided just to go check his door, assuming it was locked.

The door wasn't locked and it slowly creaked open.

That was a first, that door was _always_ locked.

This was the first time Momo had actually been inside his room.

It was nice.

It smelled just like him.

She continued to look around, when her eyes suddenly fell on a sleeping Toshiro in the bed and rush of heat ran through her heart.

_What to do, what to do, what to do…._ Momo's mind was racing.

The moonlight enabled Momo to make her way to the bed, and she inched her face up to his, to make sure he was sleeping.

He was.

Momo looked at him, she stared at his face from above, her hair beginning to fall over his pillow. That's how close her face was to his, mere inches.

His eyes began to flutter, and Momo suddenly remembered why she was in there in the first place.

She quickly located his hand, which was sitting on his stomach, and placed the phone inside, careful not to touch him, as not to wake him up. She watched him curl his fingertips around it, still fast asleep. She then stood straight up and looked at him for a moment longer. She finally walked away and went back into her room.

She decided to leave her door unlocked too.

**Author's Notes:**

I'm slightly delusional in the early hours of the morning too.


	4. And then the lack thereof

Toshiro yawned, bringing his hand up to rub his eyes, only to suddenly find a phone antenna stabbing him in the eye.

"OW!" He exclaimed, jumped out of bed, slipping on his sheets, which spilled over the bed, falling onto a soccer ball, rolling over, and bumping into a table, which dropped a cup of water onto his head.

"Oh shit. That hurt." He mumbled.

Meanwhile, Momo was in her room when she suddenly heard a bunch of crashes in the room next door. She rushed into the room to see what was going on.

She opened the door and ran inside, she didn't see him at first. Then she looked down to see Toshiro about a foot in front of her feet, laying on the ground with a cup on his head, legs running up a wall.

"Oh. Good morning, Hinamori. Sleep well?" He asked calmly.

"Um." Momo was confused, "Yes. Thanks." A baffled expression dressed her face, and she walked out of the room without another word.

Neither mentioned the incident again.

Toshiro glanced at his clock after he got off the floor. It was 10:30. He'd actually woken up quite early, considering he didn't have soccer practice that day, it being Sunday. He stretched a bit, before brushing his teeth and changing into jeans and a polo shirt, his regular attire. After he got ready for the day, he went downstairs to the kitchen, by this point it was about 11.

Toshiro grabbed some cereal, while secretly wondering where Momo was. He was also sort of glad he hadn't seen her. Things were always, really uncomfortable between the two of them. He really hoped that would stop. He really couldn't take three more years of this awkwardness.

Upstairs in her room, Momo was thinking the same thing. She knew it was Sunday and that Toshiro would be home all day. She was staying in her room to try to avoid him, but she knew she couldn't stay in there all day. She needed to get out of the house. Just then, her phone rang.

"Hello?" Momo answered.

"MOMO!" It was Rangiku; "I'm hanging out with my good friend Rukia today. She's in your grade, and you guys would totally get along. Wanna come with us?"

Momo was so relieved, "Of course, when?"

"Now!" Rangiku said, "We're right in front of your house, look out the window!"

Momo rushed out onto the balcony, cell phone in hand. Sure enough, big-busted Rangiku was standing there waving at her, along with a short petite raven-haired girl, Momo presumed to be Rukia.

Momo waved back, "Hold on, I'll be down in a few!" She hung up the phone and grabbed her purse. She found Uktiake and told him she would be out, and to call if he needed her, then she headed out the door.

"Momo!" Rangiku rushed up to hug her small friend, "This is Rukia Kuchiki."

"Hello! Nice to meet you!" Rukia said, curtsying politely.

"You too!" Momo said, un-phased by Rukia's odd behavior.

"We were going to head up to do some shopping, I figured we start at the far end, since we didn't get to finish yesterday." Rangiku chatted away, dragging along her two petite friends, "Since school starts tomorrow, we need all new wardrobe, and I'm kind of hungry, you guys like sushi? I adore sushi. It's my favorite food of all time…"

The three spent the whole day out, and Rangiku was right, Rukia and Momo totally got along. They actually had a lot in common, even though their personalities were not so similar. Rukia was pretty loud and outspoken, and she seemed to make friends with everyone she met, although Momo imagined she could hold her own in a fight.

The girls finally took a break from shopping at about 2 in the afternoon, to get a bite to eat a deli. The three had all brought their schedules to compare. Rangiku had French 2 with Rukia, but because she was a senior that was the only class she shared with either Rukia or Momo. However, Rukia and Momo had quite a few classes together: Science 1st, Art 5th, and History 7th.

"Woah," Rukia suddenly exclaimed, looking at Momo's schedule, "You're in math four?"

"Yea…" Momo said, "Is that weird?"

"Just impressive is all. I can't think of any other sophomores in math four, it's a senior math class after all." Rukia said; Momo just shrugged.

"Capitan is in math four." Rangiku said thoughtfully, "Third period, I have math four that period also but we have different teachers. He has Barley I think."

"That's when I have math." Momo said.

"Guess you guys have that class together then." Rangiku said, suspiciously cheerfully, "So… Do you guys all have C-lunch? So far, Capitan is the only friend I have in C-lunch." Rangiku pouted.

"I do." Momo said, after inspecting her schedule.

"Same here, actually almost all my friends have it." Rukia said, "Orihime, Renji, Ichigo, Ishida, everyone."

"Eh?" Rangiku said, "Really? They didn't call me, not even Orihime!" She nagged.

"Orihime's been gone for most of the summer, she lives with her mom during the summer, remember?" Rukia explained, "And, I don't really blame Ishida and Ichigo for not calling you, I think you scare them," Here, Rangiku made an appalled face, "And Renji is Renji, can't expect him to do anything right."

Accepting Rukia's words, Rangiku looked away with defeat, "Still," She said, pouting.

The three girls were quiet for a moment, each nibbling at their sandwiches.

"So…." Rangiku said, "Are you finally going to ask Ichigo out this year, Rukia?"

At this point, Rukia's drink splattered from her mouth onto the ground, as she raised a dainty hand to her mouth, "Come again?"

"Are you finally going to ask Ichigo out?" Rangiku repeated, "You guys are bound to go out eventually, come on!"

"Orange hair, #15?" Momo inquired, making sure she knew what was going on.

"Yes," Rukia said kindly to Momo, then turned to Rangiku and angrily said, "As if I would ever ask out that carrot-topped idiot."

"Aww," Rangiku groaned, "After all the nice things he does for you too!"

"He is not nice!" Rukia retorted, "He has no civil manners!" Momo giggled at the two girl's arguments. It was obvious, even to Momo, that Rukia had a soft spot for Ichigo, even if Momo wasn't entirely sure who Ichigo was.

Rangiku let out a rough sigh, "Whatever you say. If I can't get you to ask him out, I'll have to try to get him to ask you out…" Rangiku's train of thought seemed to have left the room at that point, so Rukia turned to Momo and started a new conversation, one that was _not_ about Ichigo.

"So Momo, do you have a boyfriend?" She asked casually.

"No." Momo replied, "I've never had a real boyfriend before."

"Really?" Rukia said, "You and I both." She said, sort of sadly.

At this point Rangiku seemed to have brought back the train, "Guys!" She exclaimed excitedly, "I just remember there's a shoe sale down the street! Lets go!" She dragged her friends out the door of the deli, and they headed to the shoe sale, where Rangiku bought 5 pairs of shoes, Rukia 3, and Momo 1.

**Author's Notes:**

These chapter titles are really weird. I really like shoes sales.


	5. Disregarded to the boiling point

When Momo finally returned to the house it was about 5 in the evening. She, Rukia, and Rangiku had all headed over to Rangiku's house to hang out for a bit. There, Momo was informed of all the gossip and going-ons and who's who of Parker High. Rangiku had pulled out her yearbook from the previous year and made sure Momo had every one straight. They couldn't have Momo hanging out with the wrong people, now could they? So after her little 'lesson,' Momo walked across the street to her house and Rangiku drove Rukia home.

Momo arrived at the front door, and attempted to open it. To her slight annoyance, the door was locked. She had not yet received a key, so previously when she went out they left the door unlocked for her. Momo rang the doorbell, and knocked a few times, but there was no answer. She assumed Ukitake and his mother must be in the kitchen making dinner towards the back of the house, and couldn't hear it or something like that. She knew for a fact that the doorbell couldn't be heard upstairs where Toshiro probably was. So, she pulled out her cell phone and called the house.

"Hello?"

"Toshiro?" Momo asked, suddenly nervous that it had to be him that picked up the phone.

"Yeah?" He responded.

"Could you come downstairs and open the door, it's locked…" She said nervously.

"Yeah." He hung up.

Momo put away her phone and waited for the door to open. It took about a minute, because the third floor was pretty far away from the front door, but finally the door opened.

Toshiro was standing there, hunched over in his regular attire, one hand in his pocket, and the other amidst some lame attempt to wave at her. His face was contorted into an awkward smile that looked sort of… sarcastic, and then he turned around and walked off.

Momo walked inside and shut the door. She waited a moment or so, before following Toshioro's example and heading up to third floor. She couldn't just stalk him all the way there. _That would be awkward. Not that our entire relationship is built on awkward or anything. Because, you know, it is._ She thought sadly.

The dinner that night was pretty much on the same awkward level as it had been previously, and after that the two headed off to go to their rooms. Momo seemed to be spending most of her time up there, or out of the house. There really wasn't much for her to do in any other rooms of the house, and she didn't really feel comfortable anywhere else just yet. Momo hadn't seen much of Ukitake, and his mother spent most of her time in her room, reading or something or another. The only time she ever really saw them was when they were making dinner, eating dinner, cleaning up for dinner, and she assumed that they ate breakfast together, because Ukitake had made it seem so. Momo assumed she would get to know them eventually, it had only been a few days after all, and she would see them at the very least every morning for breakfast and every evening for dinner. So, until then, Momo was content locked up in her room. Eventually Momo changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth (without seeing Toshiro to her relief) and went to bed. After all, tomorrow was the big day, her first day at Parker High. After hearing Rangiku and Rukia's miniature lecture on everyone at Parker High, Momo was even more excited. When she finally fell asleep, Momo dreamed about her new day at school.

Unfortunately, this dream did not last long, because her alarm woke her up in what seemed like minutes after she had fallen asleep. She hated when that happened, but her hate dissipated when she remembered she was starting school today. She shot out of her bed and was suddenly wide-awake. She was tempted to scream in anticipation, but decided against it. It didn't really seem like a good idea.

Instead, Momo eagerly opened up her closet and eyed all of her clothes. Admittedly, she already knew what she was going to wear. She had spent of the night yesterday deciding this. So she pulled out her outfit with ease and smiled with delight when she saw it.

Since it was the first day, Momo needed the perfect outfit, so she would make a good impression. She didn't want to look too nerdy, or preppy, or emo, or goody-two-shoes-ish, or stuck up… the list went on. So she finally settled on a black cami under a cardigan with thick white and yellow stripes. She also wore dark colored jeans that were the perfect fit, and white flats that looked amazing no matter what clique you were in. Shoes could be pretty astounding like that.

After she was satisfied with her outfit, she went into the bathroom. To her slight surprise, Toshiro wasn't in there, and she couldn't hear any signs that he was even awake. _Maybe he's already downstairs eating breakfast, _Momo thought, remembering Uktiake said he would fix a wonderful breakfast for their first day, _Then again, he may still be sleeping…_

Lost in her thoughts, Momo flipped her hair up into it's typical bun. The motion had become almost instinct to her. She wrapped her hair tie around exactly three times, then stepped back to be sure it looked good. After satisfied that it looked good from every angle, Momo finally went downstairs, a happy smile on her face.

"Morning Momo!" Came Uktiake's cheerful voice, as Momo stepped into the dinning room.

"How did you sleep Momo dear?" Granny asked. The two were sitting at their normal spots, bacon eggs, grits and big fat waffles on their plates. Uktiake really had made a wonderful breakfast!

"Good, thank you!" Momo said, "Wow, this sure looks amazing!"

"Help yourself dear!" Ukitake said.

Momo sat down in her usual spot, between Uktiake and Toshiro's empty seat.

She filled her plate and ate, as the morning was filled with light conversation. When Momo was finished she went upstairs, brushed her teeth, and grabbed her backpack, still wondering where Toshiro was.

When she got downstairs, she returned to the dinning room, and causally asked, "Where is Toshiro?"

"Oh, he's a late riser." Uktiake said, a smile still donned his face, "I'm sure he'll be down any minute and you guys can go ahead and walk to school. Usually, you could just leave without him, or drive in early with Rangiku, but since it's the first day, it could help to have him show you how to get there. Wouldn't want you getting lost on the first day!"

"Oh, of course!" Momo said, cheery as ever.

"Oh!" Uktiake suddenly exclaimed, "It's the man of the hour! Good morning, Toshiro."

"Hey." Toshiro said, his backpack was on his back and he looked completely ready to go to school. He walked up to the table and filled up his plate, and began eating while still standing up. He put his fork down for a moment and motioned Momo to the door, "Let's go." He walked out, and continued stuffing his face.

Momo stood there for a moment in awe, then bade Uktiake and his mother goodbye, as she hurried off in the direction Toshiro had left in. The two left the house and walked for a good way in silence, Toshiro still chowing down on his breakfast-to-go.

It was about 3 blocks before Toshiro suddenly stopped. It seemed that he had finished with his food, and had licked his plate entirely clean. He set his backpack on the ground, as Momo quietly stopped and waited for him, without even asking what he was doing. He un-zipped his backpack and put the plate inside, as if it were a book, and put his backpack on, and continued walking. Momo stood there for a minute in awe, then hurried to catch up with him. This boy was seriously weird.

After two more blocks, the two had arrived at the school. Rukia and Rangiku spotted Momo right off the back, and rushed her into their crowd of friends, who were all gathered around a circle of benches by the front doors of the school.

"Hey, everyone, this is Momo Hinamori. The girl I told you about." Rangiku said aloud to, everyone apparently, "Okay, Momo this is Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo bobbed his head in greeting, "Renji Abari," Renji muttered some form of hello, "Uryu Ishida," Ishida waved and quietly uttered a, 'nice to meet you,' "and Orihime Inoue." Orihime enveloped Momo in a quick hug, "Nice to meet you Momo! I think we'll be great friends!" Rangiku spoke up again, "There are more people I'd like you to meet, but they're not here right now, and we probably should hurry on to class before we're late on the first day. Rangiku grabbed her bag and headed off in a cheery gallop of sorts with Orihime and Toshiro, with whom she shared her first period, gym.

Momo and Rukia also headed off to their first period, which was science. Most of the morning was just introductions and such and Momo enjoyed herself quite a bit. She was further introduced to many of Rukia and Rangiku's friends, including Ichigo, who was in her Spanish class, Orihime who was in her music class, and Ishida who was in her science class. Just as Rangiku had said, Toshiro was in Momo's advanced math class third period. He sat behind her, but didn't say anything to her at all. In fact, he had barely acknowledged her. He had only done his lazy, lame half-wave at her. To Momo's relief, she didn't have to talk to him either; the teacher did all the talking the whole class period. After the class ended the two had quickly rushed off to their next classes, which were in the opposite directions.

After the first five classes of the day, they finally had lunch. Rukia and Momo were in art class together right before lunch, so they headed off together to the same benches where they had met that morning. Orihime and Rangiku were already there, and Renji and Ichigo arrived shortly after. Ishida and Toshiro were the last to arrive, in walking together in silence.

They all pulled out their lunches and began to eat, Momo had made a sandwich that morning, but was sort of wondering what Toshiro was going to eat, as far as she knew, he had never packed a lunch or anything. She was about to ask, when she noticed that Toshiro and Ichigo had left together.

"Where are they going?" Momo asked Rukia.

"They buy their lunches in the cafeteria." Rukia said, "We could all go eat in there, but it's so much nicer outside, especially when the weather is like it is today. Eventually we probably will go eat inside, but not until it gets much colder."

"Oh." Momo said. It really hadn't occurred to her why they were eating outside, but she quickly accepted Rukia's explanation.

The lunch hour passed by really quickly, Momo was quickly enveloped in conversation with Rukia, Rangiku and Orihime, and didn't even notice when Toshiro and Ichigo came back. Soon, the lunch bell rang and Momo grabbed her bags and headed off in the opposite direction as Rukia and her friends.

She had English next period. She arrived in the class and quickly looked for her assigned seat on a chart. She quickly found her name, Momo Hinamori; row 2, the back seat…. Wait…. She looked back at the chart. Toshiro Hitsugaya sat next to her in this class. Momo was secretly pleased. She took her stuff and sat in the very back, in her assigned seat. She took out her designated English binder and began copying stuff off the board. When Toshiro came in, she pretended not to notice him, hoping that he would say something to her.

He didn't.

Oh well, that was okay. She really hadn't expected him too.

The teacher talked for a while, and the class was almost over when Momo noticed Toshiro scrawling down something on a small sheet of paper. He folded it up and handed it to her, without even looking at her.

She took the note, careful to make sure their hands didn't brush and began to open it when the bell suddenly rang.

Toshiro left in a huge hurry.

Momo slowly opened the note.

It said….

**Author's Notes:**

I posted the first 5 chapters of this story all together when I initially posted this story, because I wanted to be sure I would actually go through with this story, it being my first.  So, this is the most recent chapter that I have completed. Please give me feedback! 


	6. As impossible as boiling ice

"_Soccer practice after school. Go home with Matsumoto if you forgot the way."_ The note read.

That was it?? That was all the note said? _Damn…_ Momo said, _I was hoping it would say something… I dunno… what was I hoping it would say?_ She contemplated this in her head as she gathered her things and went to her last class of the day. _As if I would forget the way…_ She thought angrily, _Gosh, who does he think he is?_ Momo was starting to get frustrated with Toshiro and his weird rude self. Really though! First he doesn't say anything on the walk to school as he scarfed down his breakfast, then he doesn't say anything to her in their classes even though they sit together, and then this rude note, and him going around making things all awkward all the time. Forget things ever getting better, Toshiro was making things worse by the minute! Momo wasn't sure how much longer she could take it. Her only hope was to pray that things did, indeed get better as she had initially hoped.

Momo suddenly realized she'd already arrived at her final class of the day, history. She walked into the classroom and saw Rukia.

"You sit over here, next to me!" Rukia called to her. Momo walked over to Rukia. She was very glad to have Rukia in that class, at least Rukia would talk to her unlike a certain white-haired [hot boy.

"Hey, do you know where Rangiku's last class is? I was going to walk home with her." Momo asked Rukia.

"Yeah, sure. Her last class is history too, it's next door though."

"Do you find it weird that Rangiku, a senior, hangs out with a bunch of sophomores?" Momo suddenly asked, than realized that her comment could be taken in a bad way, "N-not that I mind. I don't, I really like Rangiku."

"Oh, yeah me too." Rukia said, "She's pretty popular, so she hangs out with all sorts of people, Renji, he's actually a junior, and Nanao Ise, who ate lunch with us, is also. She hangs out with a lot of seniors too, like Shuhei Hisagi, Nemu Kurostuchi, and my brother Byakuya sometimes."

"You have a brother?" Momo asked.

"Yeah, sort of. I'm adopted." Rukia said. Momo wasn't really sure how to reply. It was kind of a personal thing, but Rukia seemed pretty lax about it.

"He's very nice. He drives me to school." Rukia said, sensing Momo's lack of a reply.

"That's cool." Momo said, "I'm an only child, but I have a cat, back in my parent's house."

Rukia laughed a bit, "Yeah. Me too."

Then the teacher came in and started class. When the class finally ended, Momo walked outside the classroom in a hurry, trying to catch Rangiku before she headed home.

The two met up, and Rangiku, who had driven to school, took Momo home. This time, she had a key. When she got there, she did a little first day homework, like filling out 'about you' papers, the typical, weird, first day homework.

When she finished, she decided not to stay in her room. She'd been thinking, and decided, that if things were ever going to get better, that she would have to try a little harder. If she wanted things to be less awkward between her and Toshiro, she would start by getting more comfortable with the house, Ukitake and Granny. So, Momo left her room, and walked downstairs.

She wandered around the house a little before walking past Granny's room.

"Hello there, Momo!" Momo heard a voice cry, as she walked past.

"Hi, Granny." Momo said, entering the room. Granny was sitting in a big armchair with a book in her hands, and a lamp over her head. She placed a small bookmark in the book and set it on a small table next to the chair.

"Sit down, if you wish. I didn't hear you come in. When did you arrive?" Granny said, then glanced at the clock, "Oh my. You've been here quite a while. So, how was your first day?"

Momo sat down in an armchair across from the one Granny sat in, "It was nice. I met a lot of new people, and I have nice classes. The teachers all seem pretty nice." Momo said.

"That's wonderful. Do you and Toshiro have any classes together?" She inquired.

"Two. But…" Momo pondered what to say, she knew what she wanted to say about Toshiro, but she couldn't exactly say _that_ to his grandmother now could she? "Well, he's not much of a talker."

Granny smiled a bit, "No. Never has been, but still, a good kid. I'm sure he'll warm up to you. He's actually more civil to you than he is to most other girls."

Momo seemed slightly pleased with this, but still resented Toshiro for his obscure behavior. "Is he? What's he usually like?" A bit of Momo's true feelings came out as she said this, in a cold form of sarcasm.

"Well…" Granny said, clearly ignoring Momo's clear aggravation, "Rude, blunt, intolerant... quite a bit like his father."

Momo forgot her previous anger at the mention of Toshiro's father. After all, considering that Toshiro's parents were still part of the family, they had never been spoken of until this point, which Momo found strange. She said nothing, hoping Granny would continue, and she did.

"He's not very much like my own son. He and Juushiro are like opposites," Granny seemed to be talking more to herself at this point, "He always had a distasteful cold exterior. Guess it rubbed off on Toshiro. But, I think Toshiro is just waiting for the right warmth to heat him up."

"Do you talk to his parents often?" Momo asked.

Granny looked at Momo with a briefly shocked expression, as if just remembering she was there, "No. Only when coordinating Toshiro's transportation. I don't particularly care for their choices in raising Toshiro. I guess they are just very busy people." She sighed, "So, Momo, how are your parents doing? I haven't seen them in ages."

Momo recognized this as Granny's way of ending the conversation about Toshiro's parents. She and Granny talked for a while more, until Momo said goodbye and continued her wandering around the house. She enjoyed talking to Granny, and it made her feel more comfortable and at home. She was also curious about Toshiro's parents. She sort of felt bad for him. She could barely imagine what she would be like if she hadn't had her parents guiding her every step of the way. She mentally excused Toshiro's behavior. Maybe she could melt his coating of ice…

Momo didn't see Toshiro come in. She just heard it. She heard the shower running, and assumed he was taking a shower like he had been doing. Shortly after the water stopped, Momo decided to go downstairs and help make dinner, another part of her plan. OPERATION: MTLA, or 'make things less awkward.'

She got there, and found Uktiake and Granny in the kitchen.

"Hello Momo! How was your first day?" Ukitake gushed.

"Great thanks!" Momo said, in her usually cheery tone, "Do you need any help making dinner?"

"Sure, we'd love your help!" Ukitake said, "We're making sushi. Do you know how?"

Momo did know how, and she was quite good at it, much better than Ukitake anyway, who couldn't roll one to save his life. Momo and Granny kept making fun of him for it, too. They were having lots of fun, and Momo was really starting to feel at home.

When they finally finished, Ukitake went upstairs to get Toshiro as Granny and Momo set the table. When everything was set, Granny and Momo sat down in their usual places and Ukitake and Granny joined shortly after.

They ate dinner, with everyone in high spirits, except for Toshiro, who said very little the whole time, which was usual for him. After dinner, Momo helped clean up and Toshiro went back upstairs. When Momo was done, she went upstairs for the rest of the night. She didn't see Toshiro at all, but she could hear him playing music through the wall, and he certainly did have good taste in music. The music was still playing when Momo went to bed, and she fell asleep before it stopped.

The next morning Momo woke up, and jumped out of bed. She was just as excited for her second day of school as she had been for her first. She quickly got dressed and brushed her teeth then headed downstairs. To her surprise, she found Toshiro in the kitchen already. He was sitting in a tall chair at the counter top, eating a bowl of cereal. He looked up at her when she came in, and then looked back to the cereal box he was reading, expressionless. Momo got out a bowl, a spoon and the milk. She poured herself some cereal and sat down next to Toshiro.

Neither said anything for a few minutes, before Momo decided to try to start a conversation. She was going to have to put forth a lot of effort if she wanted OPERATION: MTLA ('make things less awkward') to succeed.

"So… How do you like school so far?" She asked politely.

"Fine." He said, not looking up from the box. He didn't really seem interested in a conversation.

"That's good I guess." She toyed around with her spoon, moving around the bits of cereal that floated in the milk, "Everyone seems really nice at Parker High. My old school was a lot different…. Wasn't as clean…" She looked up at him. He kept up his cold façade. Momo made a distorted face showing her agitation and looked down at her cereal, she wasn't giving up just yet, "My old school wasn't as big either, it was actually really small. Only like 50 kids in each grade…"

"I went to a boarding school before I came here." He said, finally. Momo mentally rejoiced at getting an actual sentence of conversation out of him.

"That's cool." Momo said, not showing her true delight.

"Not really." Toshiro responded coldly. Momo was slightly disappointed at this reply, but didn't give up her quest.

"I-" Momo started, before she saw Toshiro already getting up and putting his dish in the dishwasher, and leaving.

_Damn…_ She thought, missing her opportunity for some conversation. But then she remembered she had the whole walk to school to make conversation.

When Momo was finally totally ready to leave, she went to the front door, to find Toshiro already waiting there for her. When he saw her, he picked up his bag and headed out the door. Momo filed after him. When they had been walking for about a minute, Momo decided to start up a conversation. She was thinking that she could probably get something out of him this time, at least more than she had at breakfast.

"I heard you listening to Taco Palace last night. They're a pretty cool band. Do you have their CD?" Momo said.

"Yeah…" Toshiro said, lamely. At least he didn't seem agitated. That was a plus.

"I went to see their concert back at home a year or so ago. It was awesome, there were lights and smoke, but it was really loud."

"I can imagine it would be." Toshiro said, retaining his same tone.

Momo giggled a little, "Yeah."

"They're playing here in a few months." Toshiro said.

"Really?" Momo said, thrilled with Toshiro's effort in the conversation, "We should totally go! Don't you think?"

"Sure." He said.

"Cool, I'll have to see when it is and stuff online. I think they have a website…" Momo said.

"They do."

Neither said anything for a while, not really sure what else to say. Finally Momo decided to break the silence.

"So. When's your first soccer game?" Momo asked.

"Today."

"Seriously? Where? Is it a home game? I want to come watch you play!" She gushed.

"It's a home game."

"Cool! I'm going to come watch you play, okay?"

"If you want." He said, shrugging a bit, and if Momo didn't know better she would have said he sounded slightly pleased, or as much as could be, considering.

"Oh!" Momo exclaimed, "Looks like we're here already. The walk seemed much longer yesterday…"

Toshiro murmured in a slight agreement. Then, Rangiku and Rukia rushed up and pulled Momo away.

Toshiro headed off in the other direction, seeming entirely pleased with himself. Everyone agreed, Toshiro was way more pleasant that day then he usually was…

**Authors Notes:**

Why Taco Palace? First thing that came to mind… Haha. Sorry for the lame ending to the chapter. I'll try to do better next time. : )


	7. Homographic compliments

Momo's day was unfolding just wonderfully. She was having a good time in all her classes and she and Toshiro even chatted some in the classes they had together. It felt nice to eliminate some of the tension between them. And she was excited for the soccer game that night. She had talked to Rukia, and Rukia was also planning to watch the game. So they had made plans to hang out a bit together before the game started. They were going to walk up to the shops nearby their school and grab a bite to eat before heading back to the school in time for the game.

Momo was anxious to see Toshiro play. She'd seen him practice once before, but they weren't doing a whole lot of playing, mostly running and strange drills and things. Ukitake really seemed to think Toshiro was amazing, but Momo wasn't really sure. Ukitake was the kind of guy to exaggerate, especially since Toshiro was his own nephew, although he seemed to be more like son to him. Then again, Ukitake had said that Toshiro could get a scholarship to any college he wanted. Momo decided she would just have to be the judge of Toshiro's skill…

When the school day ended Rukia and Momo headed out for the stores. They went to the deli they went to before with Rangiku and got sandwiches.

"The boys are supposed to be amazing this year." Rukia said, "Soccer is really big at Parker High, if you hadn't noticed already." The girls laughed. Momo had definitely noticed. Everyone at the school seemed to have plans to attend the game, and were talking about it all day. From the talk, Momo had gathered that the team was expected to win the championships this year, and had come really close last year. Toshiro apparently was a real star on the team, too. She also remembered from seeing the practices that Ichigo, Ishida, and Renji were all on the varsity team as well.

"I'd noticed," Momo said in response to Rukia's earlier question.

"People are saying that the team will definitely win the championships this year, because of Toshiro." Rukia continued, "Everyone seems really amazed by him, even Ichigo and the other guys. They said they probably would have won last year if he'd been on the team. But he didn't try out for some reason. I wonder why… He would have made it for sure."

"Have you seen him play?"

"No. But even if I did, I doubt I would be able to tell if he was any good or not." Rukia laughed, "I don't know very much about soccer, all I know is you use your feet."

They both laughed.

"I actually played a little soccer in middle school, before I moved here." Momo said, "But I decided not to try out for my school team last year… I played in a different league though."

"Was your team good?" Rukia asked.

Momo thought about it for a minute, her team had gone the whole season with only 2 loses, and several wins in various tournaments, "Yeah. I guess so."

"You should totally try out for the team this year! I obviously won't, but Orihime probably will, and her friend Tastuki. Tatsuki's really good." Rukia encouraged.

Momo laughed, half heartedly, "Maybe I will… It's a while off until tryouts anyway. I've got time to decide."

"Yeah," Rukia said, laughing a bit, as Momo had done.

"So," Momo said, "Are you excited to see Ichigo play, Rukia?"

Rukia blankly stared at Momo, obvious distaste in her eyes. Momo had picked up on Rangiku's teasings of Rukia and Ichigo. Rukia denied liking him, but Momo and Rangiku weren't fully convinced, and besides, it was fun to pick on her. "No. What about you and _Toshiro_?" Rukia said, countering Momo's teasing with some of her own. It was no secret to Rukia that Momo obviously liked him.

"Um. No…" Momo said, blushing and looking away, "I'm excited to see the whole team, which Toshiro just _happens_ to be on…"

"Right. Of course," Rukia said, "And that's why you blush every time his name comes up… It has nothing to do with you _liking_ him."

"Okay… okay…" Momo said, "I do! Just don't say it so loud!" Rukia laughed at Momo's desperation.

"Don't worry." Rukia assured her friend, "I won't tell anyone. But Rangiku, but she can already tell… and besides… she can help hook you too up!"

"Um. No thanks," Momo said, casually sipping on her soda, "For some reason I don't think I would ever want Rangiku helping me 'hook up' with anyone."

Both girls laughed, imaging how Rangiku's personality could cause problems with her medaling in other people's love lives.

"I agree." Rukia said, "Anyway… Let's get a move on! Wouldn't want the game to start without us!" Rukia picked up the trash from their sandwiches and threw it away. The two girls grabbed all of their belongings and headed over to the soccer field.

By the time they arrived at the school again, the place was packed, at least half of the whole school seemed to be there, and the school was huge. _Wow…_ Momo thought, _Soccer really is popular here… _Packed bleachers on either side surrounded the soccer field. Steel bar gates bordered the entrance, and a small covering hosted a concessions stand. The dim light in the sky was fading, and in it's place towering lights lit up the whole field. Momo had been there before, but it certainly had been different when it was almost empty and during the day. Momo looked down towards the actually field, running across the patch-less green grass she could see the opposing team, garbed in white and green. On the opposite side of the field she spotted the home team dressed in white and blue, taking turns in fast paced shooting.

"Momo!" Rukia snapped Momo's attention back to earth. Momo handed the ticket-giver her money and he handed her back a ticket. The two then stopped by the concession stand and grabbed a small snack buffet of soda, m'n'ms, and sun chips. Excitement bursting from the girl's seams as the two headed off to find some seats. They miraculously found two seats directly behind the home team's bench. Waiting in anticipation, they watched the home team warm up.

Chad, a silent guy who was in Momo's Spanish 2 and music class, was the goalie. He was pretty amazing too. His large built was particularly helpful. As long as Momo had been watching, not a single goal had snuck past him. Momo looked at other players. She spotted Ichigo first, _#15_. His hair was hard to miss, and he was in the front of the line. He dribbled a bit and took a hard shot, it was headed straight for the top corner of the net, but Chad managed to snatch it up. The people watching Chad warm up cheered, it was an amazing save, in game or not. Momo watched as other players took shots. Ishida, and Renji both took amazing shots, but Chad managed to save them. A few other guys took shots but none went in. Then it was Toshiro's turn. His face was totally relaxed as it was always, and he nudged his ball out a bit to the right with the outside of his foot, before jogging onto it, and breaking into a run as a he approached the ball, nudging it across the other way, to the left, and suddenly took a shot with his left foot. It was heading up, into the right corner, when it met Chad's palms, and bounced out, back to Toshiro's feet. But Toshiro took a whack at that sucker and sent it flying into the bottom left corner with a slam of his right foot. Small cheers broke out in the chaos of the stadium, but Toshiro causally accepted his ball from Chad, after retrieving it from the back of the net, and jogged back to the end of the line.

"He is good." Momo said, more to herself than anyone.

Rukia chuckled a bit, "Yeah, it figures only _he_ would get one in."

After a few more players took some shots, the coach directed the team to run around the field as their last warm up. Toshiro took the lead at the head of the line. Most of the players waved and blew kisses at the crowd as they went by, amping up the reaction from the crowd. Ishida and Chad of course did no such thing, they kept their eyes focused on their running, but there was another not participating in the waving and kissing. Toshiro- but Toshiro wasn't focused on his running, his eyes were wandering amongst the crowd, searching for a certain someone. He was about to give up, when he suddenly saw her, only a few yards away, as she was in the front row. His delight showed plainly in his cocky grin as he nodded at her, keeping eye contact until it was no longer possible.

When the spiky haired soccer star finally passed, Rukia jabbed Momo lightly with her elbow. "You may not like him, Momo," Rukia said, all the while knowing Momo clearly _did_ like him, "But I'd say that he likes you. I've never seen him wear such a _dorky_ smile." Rukia grinned genuinely at Momo. Momo's face adorned with a scarlet blush, although her eyes focused not on Rukia, but the #20 on a certain boy's jersey.

When they finished their running, each team formed a huddle and had a small pep talk, once that was over the game finally began. Massive cheering came from the crowd, as the starting players jogged onto the field. Toshiro was a forward.

The game started with the home team in possession of the ball. Toshiro passed it on to a fellow teammate, who sent it back to the offensive mid, which happened to be Ichigo. Ichigo took one bad-ass kick, and the ball was sent sailing over the field, into the other team's half. Toshiro ran onto it, and after a few paces took a shot of it. The goalie blocked it, but barely. Momo could tell this was going to be an interesting game.

By the second half, the home team was leading by 2 goals, one scored by Toshiro and the other by Ichigo, who almost rivaled Toshiro's skills. The teams each gather by their own benches, and began talking strategy. Toshiro was facing the bleachers, and while gulping down water from his jug, and pretending to listen to the coach, he continued to sneak looks at Momo, causally, so no one would notice. But Rukia and Momo certainly did.

"That's so sweet!" Rukia said, "He keeps looking up here at you!"

Momo adverted her gaze from both Rukia and Toshiro, trying to hide her blush, "Don't be silly, Rukia! He's just looking at all his cheering fans, I just happen to be sitting up here."

"Right." Rukia said, "And monkeys can fly! Seriously Momo, look! He is staring right at you!"

Momo looked and sure enough, she found Toshiro's gaze lay straight at her. Neither adverted their gaze, and just stared at each other from afar. Momo started to crack a small smile, but before Toshiro could return it, the coach called out loudly for a team cheer. The team all put their hands in, and yelled, "Go Team!" before heading back out onto the field.

The rest of the game was as high tempo as the first, continuing with Toshiro's dominance of the field. To the immense cheers of the crowd, Toshiro managed to land another one in the back of the net, ending the final score at 3-0, Parker High.

After the game ended, the field cleared out quickly, until all that was left was a few students, chatting adults, and scattered remnants of the teams. Rukia and her brother, who had been there with friends, had headed on home, and Momo was now alone, on the lookout for Toshiro, so they could go home together.

His bright hair helped him stick out, and Momo spotted him down on the field gathering his soccer gear together.

"Toshiro!" She called out brightly, as she headed over towards him.

Toshiro turned around to see who called him, "Oh. Hinamori. Hey." Then he grabbed the ends of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Momo could have sworn she felt her cheeks fill with color as she momentarily gawked at his bare chest. Then he pulled a clean shirt out of his bag and slipped it on. Momo silently counted her blessings, thankful that she wouldn't have to walk all the way home with him shirtless. It would be hard not to stare…

Toshiro swung his bags onto his back and started heading off; Momo followed after him. They started heading away from the field.

"You're really amazing…" Momo said, in light to compliment him.

"Well. We get a lot of practice…" Toshiro said, as the two chuckled lightly at his attempt at a joke.

The two headed home as Momo silently thought to herself that his soccer skills weren't the only thing she had meant when she said he was amazing…

**Author's Notes:**

Well. Random chapter on a Wednesday much?


	8. Novel Wonder

OMG. I AM SO SORRY THAT IT HAS BEEN SO LONG! And I could give you a long list of excuses for why I haven't updated in like a month, but I think you'd all rather prefer another chapter, so here it goes!

--

_He really is something else… _Momo thought as she stared at him in her English class.

It was the last day of her first week at Parker High: Friday. So far she had a great first week of school. It was Tuesday that she had gone to see Toshiro's first soccer game of the season. He'd had practice on Wednesday and an away game on Thursday, but they didn't have soccer on Fridays anymore, since school had started.

The whole week, Momo had been breezing through her classes, and making all sorts of new friends. She was becoming friends with people she'd never dreamed about being friends with before, at her old school, and that included Toshiro.

Momo was beginning to find everything that Granny had told her about Toshiro that one afternoon was really true. The more she talked with Toshiro, the more he seemed to warm up to her, and the more Momo found her self becoming infatuated with him. She savored the moments she was around him and missed him when he wasn't there. It was crazy, considering she'd only met him a week ago…. But…

"Eh- Hinamori!" Toshiro's voice broke through Momo's thoughts, "Are you paying attention?"

Momo suddenly snapped back to earth and bolted upright, "Um, well, you see…" Momo stammered, embarrassed to be caught thinking about him, even though it wasn't as though he knew it. Toshiro grinned, sensing the answer was, 'no'.

"I'm not either." He said, with a small chuckle, "So, where should we meet after school?"

"Well I don't know… Um… What's your last class?" Momo said, regaining her cool.

"Spanish." He replied.

"Right… Well I have History… So I guess we should just meet on the benches where everyone hangs out before school."

"Okay." Just as Toshiro spoke, the bell rang.

"See you after school!" Momo cheered, as Toshiro picked up his bag and head out, replying to her with a slight nod of the head.

Momo was grinning wildly all the way to History.

History, which she had with Rukia, went by quickly as usual. After that class she headed off to meet Toshiro, excited to go see him. It was starting to become regular for her to get excited before she saw him. In fact, it was silly almost, because she was so happy to be around him, but when she wasn't around him she was almost embarrassed to have such a silly crush, but then whenever it came time to see him, she felt all giddy inside again.

Momo sat down on the bench where she and Toshiro had agreed to meet, and became lost in her thoughts. Suddenly she heard Toshiro's voice call her name, "Eh, Hinamori!"

Momo suddenly dropped her books and quickly stood up and bent over to get them, she suddenly found her hand touching something that wasn't a book. She looked down and saw two hands touching, and only one of them was hers.

She quickly withdrew her own hand, feeling like a silly little girl with a stupid crush. The two stood up simultaneously. He grinned at her with his charming smile as he handed her fallen books out towards her.

"Here." He said as she took her books from his hands, brushing against them as she took back her books. She felt her face flush as she realized this was the first time they had actually touched, and even though it seemed silly, Momo couldn't help but smile, and when he smiled back, her smile widened into a grin and they took off towards home.

That night Momo helped Ukitake and Granny cook as always, but this time Toshiro pitched in too, and for once, they all finally felt happy together, even as the would be/makeshift family they were.

Throughout dinner they all continued their light conversation, and Momo was noticed that Toshiro was beginning to say more and more as time passed. Part of her wondered if his initial silence was because of her, or this newfound voice was because of her. She didn't really know but she was glad he finally seemed to be warming up to her, and that night she went to bed with a smile and her face, and an unlocked bathroom door.

The next morning Momo was suddenly, and rudely awakened by the booming voices of Taco Palace (Our favorite band from Chapter 6) on the volume 10 ring tone emitting from her phone.

"Gahh…." Momo said as she mindlessly reached her hand around searching for the small device, and when she couldn't find it, repeated again louder, "Gah.fsDf!L!!"

Then suddenly she found herself on the floor, sheets and all, to her mild discomfort, as her phone dropped from the above table into her lap, her ring tone now silenced.

The door to the bathroom suddenly flung open and Momo looked up to see none other than Toshiro standing in the doorway, at first with a look of surprise and shock, than with one of smug knowing.

Momo felt her cheeks flushing, but willed herself to say something, anything to try to save the situation…

"Oh. Good morning, Toshiro. Sleep well?" She asked calmly, feeling a smug grin grow across her face, pleased with her quick thinking.

Toshiro grinned at her with that sly smile of his, "Yeah, until your stupid phone began blasting Taco Palace throughout the whole neighborhood." His hand went up to rub his hair, as it became more apparent that both were still wearing their pajamas.

"Come on. I know you like Taco Palace. And I'm holding you to that promise to go to the concert with me next month you know." Momo said as she stood up, trying to avoid any further embarrassment.

"What promise?" Toshiro asked, now looking a bit more awake than before as he watched her stand up.

"The other day… on the way to school, remember?" She asked, now placing her phone back on the table as she causally brushed off her clothes loosely with her hands.

"Yeah, but I don't think I _promised._" He said, his eyes still resting on her.

"Hmm, you may be right." She said thinking, "So lets make a promise now."

He raised his eyebrow, looking at her with curiosity, "All right fine. It's a promise."

"Hmm." She said, as if trying to figure out if he meant it, and then, to seal the deal, she stuck out her hand for a handshake.

He reached out his hand and took hers into his, and he noticed how soft her skin was, and he looked back up at her face and couldn't help but smile. The moment was short lived however when Taco Palace began to boom in the room once again, causing Momo to jump as she jerked her hand away.

"I should probably answer that." Momo said, glancing at the phone.

"It's probably Rangiku." Toshiro said as he walked out, "Who else would call at 9:00 in the morning?"

Momo rushed to pick up the phone once Toshiro left, the loud music of Taco Palace ringing in her ears.

"Hello?" She spoke into the phone.

"MOMO!" Cried the cheery voice Momo immediately recognized to be Rangiku. Toshiro had been right after all, "Hope I didn't wake you!"

"You did, but it's alright." Momo said, very much awake now, especially after her encounter with Toshiro, "So, what's up?"

"Well… I already called Rukia," Rangiku started, and Momo immediately knew Rangiku had woken Rukia as well, "And invited her over for a sleepover, tonight, my place. She's coming, so, are you in?"

"Well, I'll have to ask Ukitake, but I'm sure it would be fine." Momo said, "What time should I come over?"

"I don't know yet." Rangiku answered, "I'll call you back in, like, an hour or so, 'kay?"

"Sure. Talk to you later!" Momo said cheerfully, excited for her newfound plans. She closed her phone and set it back on the table. Now sitting on the bed, Momo stretched her arms up towards the ceiling and allowed herself to fall back onto the soft comforter. She placed her hands under her head and smiled, amazed at how pleased she found she was about her current situation. Only a little over a week ago had she come to stay with Ukitake and begun to attend Parker High, and she was already much happier than she had ever been at her old school. Her new school was absolutely amazing, more than she had hoped, and her new friends were completely reliable, understanding, and fun. Even the people she had yet to really get to know seemed like amazing people, and really seemed to try to look out for her, and see her for who she really was. At home she was welcomed graciously into the arms of Granny and Ukitake, who already seemed to look at her as one of their own. And then there was Toshiro. Her grin widened as she suddenly recalled their most recent encounter.

Momo suddenly got up, her excitement from before returning. She half- jumped, half- danced, half-skipped over to her closet and threw open the doors. She pulled out a cute outfit and changed. After brushing her hair and making sure she looked all right, she trotted down the stairs towards the dinning room, where, much to her expectation, Ukitake was hidden behind the paper.

"Morning!" She cheered as she bounced into the room.

"Momo!" Ukitake cried, the paper falling loosely to the side, "How are you?"

"Great, and you?" She said falling into her normal chair next to Ukitake.

"Wonderful." He said, taking a sip of his coffee, "So Momo. You've officially been here over a week. How do you like it here so far."

"It's amazing! It's…" Momo thought for the words she needed to express the all the things she had thought earlier on her bed, but found no words could ever express it, in any brevity any way, "It's wonderful, just wonderful." She finally decided upon the words, grin glowing on her face.

"I'm glad," He said, returning her smile, "So, I am thinking pancakes. How about you?"

"That sounds really good right now!" Momo said, grinning as the two stood up to head towards the kitchen.

Shortly after the ingredients had been brought out, Granny showed up, dressed and ready for the day, her kind smile on her face. The three began to mix ingredients, improving a bit as they went.

Just as the first batch of pancakes was poured onto the pan Toshiro walked into the kitchen and sat at the counter.

"Hey. Smells good." He said, in his normal tone.

"Good Morning, Toshiro!" Momo greeted him, in her normal, more cheery, tone.

"Some one is up rather early," Ukitake joked.

"Yeah, well something woke me up." Toshiro gave Momo a knowing glance, as the two smiled at their small inside joke.

"Oh!" Momo said, "That reminds me, Ukitake, is it alright for me to sleep over at Rangiku's house tonight?"

"Of course!" Ukitake said.

"Thanks!" Momo said, as she began to put blueberries into the pancakes.

"I'm glad that you two are becoming friends." Ukitake said, "You know, Toshiro and Rangiku have been friends since they were real little."

"I've heard." Momo said politely.

"You know, one time when they were little-" Ukitake began.

"OH!" Toshiro suddenly burst in, "Look at that! I think the pancakes are ready to be flipped!"

"Oh!" Momo said, directing her attention away from Ukitake and back towards her pancakes. She lifted the spatula and attempted to flip one of the pancakes. It landed on another.

"Wow." Toshiro said, "I give it a 3."

"Uh, 5." Ukitake said.

"4." Granny said as everyone began to laugh, except for Momo.

"Heyy!" Momo cried, "It's not my fault I'm not exactly gifted at pancake flipping! It's hard!"

"Not really," Toshiro said, still laughing on the inside.

"I'd like to see you try then Mr. Hotshot." Momo said handing him the spatula.

He took it, and walked around the counter over towards the pan. He stuck the spatula under one of the pancakes, and flipped it perfectly.

"Oh! Hey!" Momo said in bemused amazement, her previous anger forgotten, "How'd you do that?"

"Skill." He said, with a small chuckle.

"You'll have to teach me that sometime!" She said.

"Yeah, maybe I will." Toshiro said, and as he saw her face light up with delight he decided to add, "or maybe I won't," just to tease her.

And as the two shared a moment together, Ukitake and Granny shared a knowing look, as the noticed that their little Toshiro had begun to melt away his little shield of ice

--

Like I said at the beginning- SO SORRY! D: I never meant to go so long without updating. I am going to try super hard to not let that happen again! Hope you all forgive me! D:


	9. Recollective Games

As she had said she would, Rangiku called Momo back

As she had said she would, Rangiku called Momo back about an hour later. Momo had just finished breakfast, those delectable pancakes, and was headed up to her room when her cell phone rang.

"Hey, Rangiku," Momo said as she flipped her phone open, still heading up the stairs.

"Hey! Okay so here's the plan- Rukia is going to come over at like 1, and when she gets here I'll call you and you can walk over." Rangiku said.

"What should I bring?" Momo asked, she'd been to sleepovers before, but she didn't really know what she would be doing this time, and it never hurt to ask. Besides, she was very peculiar about being organized and orderly.

"Anything you want really," Rangiku said, thinking for a minute, "Pajamas, toothbrush… a hunk of sexy Capitan!"

"Rangiku!" Momo said, appalled, as she flopped down on her bed after reaching her room.

"I'm just kidding, girly." Rangiku said, laughing, as Momo's ridiculous reactions never failed to entertain her, "We'll probably just hang out, so you shouldn't need anything to specific, and besides, if you forget something, your house is right across the street. You can always go get it."

"Oh yeah." Momo said, forgetting how close their two houses were, "Hey, are you in your room right now?" She asked, heading outside onto the balcony.

"Yeah, why?" Rangiku responded.

"Look outside your window." Momo said as she peered into Rangiku's room from across the street, waving wildly.

"Haha. I see you!" Rangiku said as she waved back through the window, "Cute outfit, by the way." Both laughed.

"Alright, well I was going to do some homework or something. No sense in getting behind by the second week of school, huh?" Momo said, as she walked back inside.

Rangiku laughed, "You're such a dork, Momo."

"Ehh?!" Momo said, mock offended.

"A cool dork though," Rangiku added laughing, "A cool dork whom I shall see at like 1. So, Ciao!"

"Bye!" Momo said as she closed her phone, and stuck it back in her pocket.

She sat at her desk, and pulled her backpack on to her lap. She sat there for a minute, thinking about what homework she had to do, then her mind drifted away to other things, as it always did. She didn't really feel like doing homework… She chuckled to herself; she really was a dork wasn't she? Well, either way, she couldn't afford to get bad grades, or else her parents would bring her right back home, and she really liked it there. Her train of thought continued running and running of the tracks when she suddenly heard a voice come from the doorway.

"Doing homework?" It was Toshiro, "It's Saturday morning, why on earth would anyone want to do school work?"

"I take it you're going to procrastinate till Sunday night, huh?" Momo shot back, a grin plastered on her face, as it always was when she talked to him.

He just shrugged as he slowly entered the room, "Haven't you got anything better to do?"

"I'm going to Rangiku's at 1, but till then, not really." She said as she picked up binder and sat it on the table. She turned to face away from him, as if she was about to start working.

He dragged a nearby chair so the back was towards Momo, about 2 feet or so from her and the desk, and sat with his legs straddled across the back. He placed his head on his arms, which rested across the back of the chair.

She slowly turned her head around to look at him, "What are you doing

"Watching you"

Her eyes narrowed, "Why?"

"I've got nothing better to do." He smirked.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and went back to her work. A few minutes went by and he was still there, watching her, making her nervous. She finally couldn't take it.

"Do you want something?" She asked turning around.

He stared at her for a moment, "Ichigo and I are going out soon. Wanna come?"

That wasn't the answer she was expecting, "I'm going to Ranigku's at 1."

"We'll be back before then."

She thought for a minute, "Okay. When are we going?"

"Now." He said, as he got up and put the chair away.

"Whhatt?" She stammered, "Why were you just sitting there for 5 minutes then?"

He shrugged, "I dunno." He started to walk out the door, "Let's go."

He walked out into the hallway; she stared at where he had just been. _What a weird kid… _She thought, then smiled.

"Hinamori!" She heard him suddenly call from down the hall. She snapped out of her daze, grabbed her purse, and ran after him.

"Coming!"

Momo followed him to the front door, but when they walked outside, Momo was surprised to see Ichigo laying on the lawn, feet propped up, and hands beneath his head. Toshiro rolled his eyes then motioned for her to be quiet, and slowly walked towards Ichigo. He crouched beside him, "EHHY!" He screamed in Ichigo's ear.

"GAHhHhhh!!" Ichigo bolted up to his feet. He saw Toshiro, "Hey man! What was that for?!"

"You were asleep on my lawn, like a dead person or something!"

"It's your own damn fault for being so late!"

"Why didn't you come inside?"

"You know your grandmother hates me!"

"That's not true!"

Ichigo prepared to yell again, before he saw Momo standing awkwardly behind Toshiro. He stared for a moment, "Oh. Hello, Momo."

"H-Hi, Ichigo. Toshiro invited me along, I hope that's alright…" She stammered.

"Oh. Of course, I was the one that suggested he bring you along." He said, completely calm and friendly now, "How are you liking Parker High so far?"

"It's wonderful." Momo said, cheerfully.

Ichigo chuckled a bit, "I'm sure most of us wouldn't agree, but I'm glad you like it here. Hope this punk here isn't give you too much of a rough time."

Toshiro's annoyed face glared at Ichigo.

Momo laughed a bit, "Not at all." She smiled, "He's wonderful."

Toshiro's face softened, "Eh, Whatever. Let's just go now."

The three walked up to a music store, The Flying Squirrel, and hung out for a bit. Toshiro and Momo gushed over the latest Taco Palace CD, and later Ichigo and Toshiro got a soccer ball and headed up to the park to practice. Momo watched for a while when she heard her phone ring.

"Momo?" It was Rukia.

"Hey, Rukia! What's up?"

"Where are you?" She asked.

"Huh? OH! What time is it?" Momo suddenly remembered she was supposed to meet Rangiku and Rukia at one.

"It's like 1:30."

"EHHH!?"

"Where are you anyway?" Rukia continued, "We went by your house when you didn't answer at first. But they said you guys had gone out…"

"We must have been in the music store when you called at first…" Momo said, "Toshiro invited me to go hang out with Ichigo."

The phone was silent, "Toshiro and Ichigo?" Rukia's voice came. "WAY?" Momo heard Rangiku's voice in the background, "Give me the phone, Rukia!"

"You, Toshiro and Ichigo?" Rangiku's voice suddenly came loudly over the phone.

"Yeah…" Momo said, a bit afraid of Rangiku's enthusiasm.

"Where are you guys at?" She asked.

"The park… They're playing around with the ball. I'm just watching…" Momo said.

"Stay there." Rangiku commanded, "We're going to come meet you!"

"Whaatt?" Rukia's voice came in the background.

"BYE!" Rangiku cheered and the line went dead.

Momo put her phone back in her pocket and walked down towards the two boys.

"Heads up!" Ichigo called to Momo as she saw the ball headed towards her. Her reflexes had her bring up her knee, successfully knocking the ball up into the air. Then she kicked it back to the boys in the air with the top of her foot.

"Ohh." Ichigo said, as he stopped the ball with his foot, "Momo. You've got some skills there. Have you ever played before?"

"Oh… thanks. I played some before I came here, but I'm nothing compared to you guys." She said modestly.

"Well no one can touch this guy here." Ichigo patted his hand down on Toshiro's shoulder; "He's going to take us to the championships this year."

"Eh, whatever." Toshiro said looking the other way.

"Eh?" Ichigo said, "Come, on. Don't be modest. You're better than everyone else on the team, probably the best in our whole league."

"He's right." Momo piped in, "You are really good, Toshiro."

"Hmm." Toshiro blushed a little, "So, who just called you?"

"Oh yeah!" Momo said, remembering why she had come down to see them in the first place, "It was Rukia and Rangiku. I was supposed to meet them a while ago, but I forgot, so instead they're going to come here."

"Rangiku?" Toshiro groaned.

"Rukia?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah. They'll probably be here any minute, they were really quite close when they called…"

"MOMO!" Rangiku's voice called from way above the field.

"Hi, Rangiku!" Momo called back.

Rangiku and Rukia made their way down to the field.

"Hello, Capitan! Ichigo!" Rangiku cheered.

"Darn it, Matsumoto! Don't call me that!" Toshiro cried.

"I'll call you whatever I want." She jeered.

"So, Ichigo." Rangiku diverted her attention towards the carrot top, "How have you been? We don't have any classes together this year, you know."

"Fine," He said, "Same as always I guess."

The five stood around for a minute, silent. Finally Rukia pulled the soccer away from Ichigo with her own feet, and said, "Let's play monkey in the middle. Not it."

"Not it!" Everyone burst immediately, except for Momo.

"Momo's it!" Rangiku said.

"What?" Momo asked.

"Whoever says it last has to be it." Toshiro explained.

"Oh. Darn." Momo said.

"Okay, feet only!" Rukia said, as she passed it on to Rangiku. The ball traveled in a circle for a while, as Momo attempted to get the ball. Finally it got passed to Toshiro, and Momo shyly went up to get it from him. But he wasn't passing it, he was just holding it there with his feet, grinning at her.

She pursed her lips together playfully, and charged towards the ball, as she did, he pulled it through his feet in a 180 turn. She ran around to get it, and he did it again. He was fooling with her! Well she wouldn't be made a fool of. Momo may not have been as good as Toshiro, but she had some skills of her own. After a few fakes, she managed to maneuver the ball away from Toshiro, and bursting away with a moment of speed.

"Haha." She cheered, as she held the ball triumphantly beneath her feet.

"Hmph." He said, as he charged after her to get the ball back from her.

"Eep!" She cried, and took off in the opposite direction dribbling the ball.

"Awww." Rangiku cried once the two were out of earshot, "How cute!"

Rukia and Ichigo laughed along, as they watched Toshiro chase Momo all around the field, and then finally catch up to her. After a few maneuvers, he managed to take the ball back from her, flipping around their chase. Momo was now laughing as she chased Toshiro all around the field. When Momo finally caught up to him, she just wrapped her arms around his waist, and dragged him away from the ball.

"Oy! That's cheating!" They could hear Toshiro cry.

Then they saw Momo pull him down to the ground, as he dragged her down with him. She landed on top. They watched as the two stared at each other for a brief moment, before Momo awkwardly got off, and brushed herself off. Toshiro awkwardly stood up too. Both looked away awkwardly, then, Momo took off toward the others with the ball at her feet. Toshiro watched her go for a moment before following in suit.

Rangiku smiled as she watched them come back, "Things are about to get interesting around here." She laughed, "I'd give them a few weeks."

"I'm not sure," Rukia said, "Momo's pretty shy."

"And Toshiro's pretty stubborn," Ichigo added.

"You give it a week," Rangiku said.

I know. I said I'd be better about updating, but a few minutes after I started writing this chapter, I got a call on my cell phone. It was my mother telling me that my younger sister was being taken to the ER via ambulance. So I sprinted 4 blocks back to school where she was in a soccer game and she had gotten fouled. So anyway… turns out she has a serious clavicle fracture which basically means the bones in her collarbone overlapping by quite a few inches, and one of the bones was fractured. So, she had surgery to try to realign the bones, and it's been rough, but she's finally back at school. But for a while there she couldn't use her right arm at all, so we've all been having to help her a lot, but she just recently got minimal use back of her arm. So I finally got the chapter out, so forgive me? : ) In other news: a girl in my art class had a seizure or something on Monday. She was sitting on a windowsill modeling for us, and just fell (like 2 feet in front of my face might I add) and I swear to god I thought she was dead for a minute there, because she wasn't responding or anything. I was terrified, but she's back at school now too. So, in short, it's just been really rough for me lately. D :


	10. Obvious and abrupt

She hadn't really known what she was doing when she pulled him down

She hadn't really known what she was doing when she pulled him down. She was just caught in the moment. But before she knew it, she was right down there on top of him. They had just stared at each other for a moment, and then suddenly Toshiro started to lift up his head. _He's going to kiss me! _ Momo had thought, and had jumped off of him, slightly mortified. Looking back, she felt stupid for even thinking that. He had probably just been trying to get up. But still…

"Well, Momo?" Rangiku's voice registered in Momo's mind.

"Huh?" She said, turning to look at her friend.

"Were you even listening?" Rangiku asked, "Come on, what's up? You've been staring off into space this whole time." The three girls had headed back to Rangiku's house from the field. They were now lounged across Rangiku's bedroom floor.

"Oh. Sorry about that," Momo responded, "I was just thinking…"

"About Toshiro, right?" Rukia asked.

Momo's face turned a crimson shade, "Why would you say that?"

"She doesn't deny it!" Rangiku exclaimed.

Momo's face grew darker, "Fine," She admitted, "I was. So what?"

"You like him." Rangiku said.

"Fine." Momo admitted once again, "So what?"

"SHE ADMITS IT!" Rangiku screamed, pointing wildly at Momo.

Momo looked slightly petrified at Rangiku's strange behavior.

"Ignore her," Rukia said, sending a scolding look towards Rangiku, "So. Are you going to ask Toshiro out?"

"Uh…" Momo seemed intimidated, "I don't know… I've never had a boyfriend… and wouldn't that make things awkward… especially if he said no! And he probably would…." Momo seemed to be talking more to herself than her friends.

"Hmm…" Rukia said, thinking about Momo's incoherent blatherings, "You have a good point." Rukia flopped down onto Rangiku's bed and looked at the ceiling, "But… I don't know. He could like you back."

At this point, Rangiku burst back into the conversation with a crazed laugh, "I know how to find out!"

Momo stared at Rangiku for a few seconds, blinking expressionlessly, "Uh. No."

Rangiku began to calm down, "Come on! I was just kidding!"

Momo rolled her eyes, "Right."

"You know," Rukia said from her position on the bed, "The Fall Dance is coming up soon, and all the soccer players are supposed to bring dates…"

"Hu hu hu…." Rangiku chuckled, "What strange development do we have here? OOF!"

Rukia threw a pillow into Rangiku's face, "Stop being stupid."

"What's the Fall Dance?" Momo asked.

"Well at the end of every sports season Parker High holds a school dance," Rukia explained, "All the sports teams have their little awards things and MVPs and whatever. But! All the players are supposed to bring a date."

"What is that a rule, or something?" Momo asked.

"I don't know. A social rule I guess…" Rukia said, now wondering whose rule it was exactly, but then continued, "Still- I don't think any player has ever not brought a date."

"And Ichigo went with Rukia last year…" Rangiku added, "OOF!"

Rukia threw another pillow into Rangiku's face.

"IT'S TRUE!" Rangiku cried.

Another pillow.

"GAHH!! STOP IT!" Rangiku lunged herself on top of a screaming Rukia. The two wrestled for a moment, before they seemingly remembered Momo was there. She stared at them blankly before saying, "You guys are really weird."

"I can't deny." Rangiku said, as they all started laughing, "Anyway… what were we talking about?"

"How Toshiro is madly in love that Momo, and is going to ask her to the fall dance." Rukia reminded her as Momo blushed.

"So, you went with Ichigo last year?" Momo asked Rukia, desperate to change the subject.

"At the last minute!" Rukia claimed, "And just as friends."

Rangiku rolled her eyes, "Righht. OOF!" Rukia had thrown another pillow at her, "gHAH! STOP THAT!"

"Stop what?" Rukia played innocent, "I didn't do anything!"

Rangiku pursed her lips and glared at Rukia with a, 'You expect me to buy that?' face and then redirected her attention to Momo, "Annnyway, the Fall Dance is a pretty big thing at Parker High, and even Toshiro knows it's stupid to go without a date."

Momo sighed, "So what makes you think that he'd ask me? You said so yourself, you know, that there's plenty of girls who completely adore him."

"Just a hunch," Rangiku said winking, "And besides, it's not as if he likes any of those girls. In fact, I think they kind of bother him," She chuckled, "And they don't really like him for him anyway. At least, I can't imagine that they do… He's not a very likeable person." They all laughed. It was sort of true after all; Toshiro's rough exterior was kind of a put down.

"When is it anyway?" Momo asked.

"It's usually the first Friday after the last game of the season," Rukia said, "And that includes tournament games. Since our team is certain to make it to the final championship game, it would be the day after that. Cause the last game in on a Thursday."

"Someone's done their research," Rangiku observed.

"Ichigo's been talking about it a lot is all…" Rukia said.

"Mhmm…" Rangiku rolled her eyes, "Anyway, that's sometime in November, so you've still got time to get Toshiro to ask you."

"What do you mean, 'Get Toshiro to ask me?'" Momo questioned.

"You know," Rangiku nudged her small friend and sent her a wink, "Using your womanly powers of persuasion," Rangiku mimicked a flirty pose, as Rukia started to crack up.

"I can't see Momo doing that to Toshiro," Rukia exclaimed.

"Me either." Momo seconded, as they all laughed.

"I wouldn't worry about it to much, anyway," Rukia told Momo, "He really does seem to like you. He's been a lot more happy and smiley since you came around." Momo blushed, but Rukia continued, "No, it's true! I don't think I'd ever really seem him smile at all, except when he's talking to you, or whenever you walk into the room." This caused Momo to blush even further.

"I agree," Rangiku added, "So we should focus more on how we're going to get Ichigo to ask Rukia out!!" Rangiku and Momo laughed, but Rukia didn't look too happy about it.

"And how we're going to get Principle Yamamoto to ask Rangiku out!" Rukia sarcastically remarked, causing all three of the girls to laugh.

Later that night the girls headed downstairs for dinner, a nice entrée of Instant Marconi and Cheese, and a second course of microwave Pizza Bagels. Rangiku's parents had headed out to eat for the night, so the girls were all alone in the house.

After playing some fierce video games, hanging out, watching a children's Disney movie, and running down the hallway and sliding in their socks, it was about 9:00, and about time for desert.

They got out all the ingredients to make crepes: pancake mix, milk, eggs, oil, and Nutella. As you can imagine… that didn't go well. They ended up just eating thin pancakes coated in chocolate, and making a mess. But hey, it tasted good. After cleaning that all up, they headed back upstairs, and finally managed to get to bed at some late early? hour.

The next morning when the awoke they headed down for breakfast: cereal, for none of them wanted anything to do with pancakes for quite a while. A little while after that, Momo decided she would head on home, as she hadn't made any specific plans with Ukitake about what time she would be coming home, and she didn't want to worry him.

After bidding goodbye to her friends, Momo headed across the street and let her self in with her new key, and looked around. The giant house was quiet… she didn't see anyone about at all. She was certain that such a large house with only an old lady, a sick man, and a distant child would be quiet quite frequently, but she had yet to experience this. The only time she wasn't with someone was when she was upstairs in her room, alone; and even still she could hear Toshiro in the other room, and Ukitake and Granny downstairs. This… was just weird…

Momo cautiously walked around the grand living room; she placed her bag on a nearby table.

"Hello?" she called, "Is anyone here?" No answer, then she noticed a note taped near the entrance to the kitchen, by the phone.

"Momo:" The note read, "We apologize for not being here to greet you, but the three of us have gone to church this fine morning, for the lord has answered our prayers!! -Granny." Momo placed the note down; all three of them went to church together? She couldn't picture it… and what had Granny meant by, 'The lord has answered our prayers?' She glanced at the clock; it was about 11:30 so they'd be home in like a half an hour or so...

Momo had never attended church regularly with her family, and she began to wonder if Ukitake and his family did. From the note, it didn't particularly sound like it. From what she understood from her parents, it was hard for their family to function in general. Ukitake's tuberculosis took a seriously toll on the family, although it had apparently been improving recently with treatment. In fact, Momo had barely noticed it at all in the short time she had been staying with the family. Ukitake did most of his work at home, and since Toshiro could walk to school and he didn't really need to be carted anywhere Ukitake was able to rest and remain comfortable without too many stresses.

Momo suddenly paled. Having her there must be a serious stress to the family. She immediately began to feel bad. She was really beginning to care a lot for the family, and didn't want to do anything to put Ukitake's health at risk. Of course, she wouldn't have been aloud to come if that was a factor was it? Well, who really knew, Ukitake was so kind he may have just… Momo began to become lost in her thoughts as she carted her bag upstairs to her room.

As she headed towards her room, she noticed Toshiro's door open. Even though she knew she shouldn't, she went it anyway. He wouldn't be back for a while, and she was just curious after all. She wasn't going to hurt anything…

The room was the same as usual, messy, and cluttered. This time Momo directed her attention to the photographs upon the dresser. The largest was one she had seen earlier, on her first day in the house. It was a picture of Ukitake and Toshiro together. Now that she was able to look closer, it appeared that they were outdoors, maybe camping or rock climbing or something.

She looked at another nearby photo. In this one was Toshiro, who was maybe 5, an older boy, who was maybe 13 or 14 with the same white hair, and two adults, who were presumably Toshiro's parents, as the white haired man looked strikingly like Ukitake. However the woman didn't look like any of them. Her hair was red, and kept up in a clean looking bun. Her eyes were green, agitated and diverted from the camera. Momo paused as she looked at this picture, and found herself recalling what Granny had said about Toshiro's parents. They really didn't seem very… caring? Was that the word she was looking for?

Momo decided to turn her attention elsewhere, which just happened to be a nearby photo frame, however this one was empty. That was strange… She picked it up and a small piece of paper fell onto the floor from the back of the frame. Momo placed the frame back on the dresser and instead crouched down and picked up the photo. She immediately recognized Toshiro by his insane colored hair, than directed her attention to the little brown haired girl smiling to his right.

Momo stared at the picture. That was her! This was a picture of Toshiro and herself! But how is that, they'd never met before, had they? Momo thought about it, it wasn't really like she remembered all the people she had met when she was that young, but wouldn't she have at least remembered Toshiro, or at least been told that they'd known each other? And why was this photo out of the frame?

Then suddenly Momo heard the sound of a door closing, and people talking. The others were home! Momo replaced the photo in to it's spot and than quickly ran into her room, taking her bag with her. After catching her breath for a moment, Momo headed downstairs to say hello and let them know she was there. When she headed downstairs she saw Granny and Ukitake enveloped in a hug, as Toshiro was taking of his jacket. (Wow, he looked really nice when he was dressed up.) Then Momo noticed something else…

"Ukitake- your hair…" Momo started, "It's shorter." It was true; Ukitake's previous long silver hair that had extended down his back was now tied in a shorter ponytail that hung just below his shoulder.

"That's not all that's different about me, Momo." He said as a huge grin came across his face, and Granny's eye's started to water.

"What is it?" Momo said, seriously curious.

"It's gone." He said his smile growing, "The tuberculosis. It's gone."

So. Yeah. I know it's been a while since I updated. I was taking this class up until last week that lasted 3 hours after school, which means I don't get home until like 7. So that ended, and now I've finally had time to finish this chapter! : )

And incase you're wondering, my sister is doing just great. She had surgery and now she's back to normal. Well, not completely… She still has to wear a sling, can't fully move her arm, and won't be doing any vigorous activity for a while, but asides from that doing good.


	11. Promises of sorts

That

The whole family had gone out to eat that night, in celebration of Ukitake's recovery. When they got home, Granny and Ukitake began making phone calls, to inform friends and family of the news. Even Toshiro, who usually was rather cut off from the rest, helped make some calls, and really seemed genuinely happy. Momo had the responsibility of telling her own parents, and called them up with the news.

As the evening began to wind down, Momo decided to go ahead to bed. She was rather tired from the day's events, and hadn't really slept much the previous night. After changing into her pajamas, she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth, but to her surprise, Toshiro was already in there.

He glanced up from his spot on the floor, "Oh. Hey, Hinamori. I'm just cleaning out some stuff." He pulled out a cardboard box from under the sink.

"What's that?" Momo asked, as she crouched down beside him.

"A box." He responded nonchalantly.

"What's it for?" Momo repeated, in an exaggerated manner.

Toshiro paused for a moment, holding the box in his hands. He seemed to be thinking of his response. When he didn't say anything, Momo took this as his way of asking her to leave, and began to get up. But before she rose, Toshiro began to speak.

"When I was 13, my uncle was diagnosed with tuberculosis." He said, still looking at the box, "It was a few months before I was supposed to come live with him for the summer, like I usually did back then… But when I got to his house that summer, he was bed-ridden. At that point, things weren't looking good for him. Not at all." He was silent for a moment, as Momo sat back down next to him, "He was like a father figure to me. He was always so strong in my eyes, and I… I couldn't bring myself to go see him. I guess that I was afraid… that it might be the last time. But one day toward the end of the summer, I finally brought myself to go see him. He was as frail and as weak as I had imagined he was."

The two were silent for awhile. Momo was afraid to interrupt, and waited for him to continue.

"He smiled at me. Tried to make a joke- told me his hair was getting too long, because Granny wouldn't let him go get a haircut. It didn't really lighten the mood… We were both quiet for a moment, then he told me to come near him, and he pulled off his necklace, the one he always wore- a silver dragon around a chain. … When I was young, he promised me one day it would be mine. As he lay there in the bed that day, he told me that day had come. But, I got scared, and I refused. It was like he had already given up and was writing his will…" Toshiro paused, "But he insisted, and so finally I accepted it, but promised him that I wouldn't wear it until he got better. He was silent, then he said semi-jokingly that since he couldn't get a hair cut in his condition, than he would just have to wait till he got better. It was a strange promise or oath or whatever you want to call it... But he kept it. So I'm going to keep mine." He opened the box, revealing a necklace. It really was amazing; Momo could understand why Toshiro had wanted it so bad. It was beautiful; a small silver dragon wove around the end of the silver chain. Toshiro lifted it out of the box.

"It's stunning!" Momo said in amazement. Toshiro was quiet, before responding.

"Yeah. It really is."

Neither said anything for a while, so Momo finally decided to get up. Toshiro didn't look up at her.

"He's an amazing man." She said, as she picked up her toothbrush.

Toshiro looked up at her through the mirror, a smile graced his face, "Yeah he is."

Toshiro grabbed the box and the chain, and left for his room, but before the door shut, Momo could have sworn she heard, "Night, Hinamori."

Momo held her toothbrush in front of her mouth for a moment, _Oh god._ She thought, _I think I'm in love…._

--

As the next few weeks progressed, Momo found herself loving her new live even more. Every morning she and Toshiro would walk to school together, which was one of the highlights of her day. She would go through her school schedule, which included many classes with her new friends, and lunch. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she and Toshiro would talk all throughout lunch, as if no one else was even there. After school, Momo headed home with Rangiku, and sometimes the two of them and Rukia would hang out after school, one of these such occasions would be whenever the boys' team had a home game. On Fridays, Toshiro and Momo walked home together. Sometimes Rangiku tagged a long, but mostly she had other things to do on Fridays. On weekends, Momo would hang out with some of her friends, and sometimes they would even do group things and Toshiro would tag along.

For the most part, Momo really loved her life. But as the days continued, Momo felt herself liking Toshiro even more and more. Even seeing him made her happy. And although Rangiku and Rukia insisted that Toshiro liked Momo back, she just wasn't sure. And the day was nearing that she would find out; the fall dance was coming up, and Toshiro had to ask someone to go with him. The only question was: would he ask her?

--

"Can anyone simplify this logarithm?" The math teacher asked, "Hmm. No takers? How about you, Momo? If you've got enough time to day dream, you must already know all of this, hmm?"

Momo snapped out of her trance. _Crap…_ She thought, she quickly glanced up at the board. After processing the problem, she quickly spit out an answer.

The teacher pursed her lips together, and, quite obviously agitated at Momo's correct answer, responded, "Very good, Momo. But please pay attention in class."

A few giggles erupted in the classroom. Momo blushed as the teacher returned to the lesson.

After school let out, Momo headed towards her and Toshiro's meeting place. Since it was a Friday, Toshiro didn't have soccer, and the two always walked home together.

"Oy. Hinamori!" Momo looked up. Toshiro was already out there.

"Oh! Hey!" Momo said as she approached him, "How was your day?"

"Eh. Alright. You?"

"Pretty good." Momo found herself smiling like an idiot. That always seemed to happen when she was around him.

"You do the English assignment?"

"Yeah. It was pretty boring…"

"I didn't do it… Soccer last night was pretty rough."

"Ahh. I guess it's going pretty good though, right? You guys have won like every single game!"

"Yeah." Toshiro shrugged.

"You guys are really amazing, and you're like the star of the team!"

"Hmm. Whatever."

Momo grinned, "Whatever? You weren't all 'whatever' when you described your amazing shot from Tuesday's game at dinner the other night."

Toshiro's hands dug deeper into his pockets as his face began to turn red, he mumbled in response, "Eh…"

Momo giggled, "Well I'm certainly excited for the championship games coming up. Everyone seems to be! With you on the team, you guys will probably win! I bet you're pumped!"

"Hmm." Toshiro mumbled again, "Yeah. I guess."

Momo grinned, as she half walked-half skipped beside Toshiro as the walked, "So what's on the agenda for tonight?"

Now it was Toshiro's turn to grin, "It's a surprise," He said calmly.

Momo was taken aback, "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

Toshiro shrugged, acting the 'cool guy', "You'll see."

Momo frowned playfully, "Ehh? No! Now I'm curious!"

"You'll just have to wait and find out." Toshiro said as they turned the corner. He was obviously enjoying this.

"Can at least ask about it? Like 20 questions?"

"No."

"Will I enjoy it?"

"Hey! I said no."

"Oh. Hmm." She was quiet for a minute, "So… Is it going to be fun?"

"Hinamori!"

"Haha." Momo laughed, "Sorry!"

Toshiro didn't speak anything of this 'surprise' for the entire night, and Momo had almost forgotten the whole thing. After dinner, Momo went up to her room, and began working on her homework.

Suddenly the door opened.

"Yo." Toshiro entered the room.

"EEP!" Momo jumped out of the chair. Seeing it was just Toshiro, she regained her composure, "You scared me. Gosh. Don't do that."

"Hmm." Toshiro said, "Well, get your bag and come on."

Momo stared at him for a moment, "Why?" She said plainly.

"We're going out." He said, as he began to turn to leave the room.

"Oh yeah!" Momo remembered, "Where are we going anyway?"

"You'll see just come on." Toshiro left the room.

"Eh! Wait for me!" Momo rushed after him as the two went down the stairs.

"We're leaving, Ukitake!" Toshiro said as they headed for the front door.

"Alright. Have fun!" He called out after them.

Toshiro grabbed his coat and put it on in a fluid movement as he opened the door. Momo followed him silently as the two headed down the street.

After he didn't say anything for a while, Momo began to talk, "So where are we going, again?"

Toshiro silently glared at her, playfully.

"Oh yeah. Secret… right…" Momo said as she pouted out her lips, "How long till we get there?" She asked, tugging on her jacket.

"Like 30 minutes."

"Eh?" Momo cried, "30 minutes? Are you sure this is worth it?"

Toshiro chuckled a bit, "Yeah, I'm sure."

Their light conversation made the 30 minutes go by rather quickly and soon Momo noticed a rather large building as they made their way into downtown.

"Is that the downtown center?" Momo asked, pointing at the huge stadium.

"Yup." Toshiro said, a small grin beginning to appear on his face.

"It looks kind of crowded… Is something going on tonight?"

Toshiro pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Momo.

"Eh?" She asked, "What's this?"

"Taco Palace tickets." He said coolly.

"AHH!!" Momo shrieked, "TACO PALACE! NO WAY?"

Toshiro chuckled, "Yes way! We're going to go see the concert right now!"

"EEEEEEE!" Momo shrieked as she did somewhat of a happy dance on the sidewalk. Then suddenly, on random impulse, she wrapped her arms around Toshiro's neck capturing him in a huge hug. It really felt nice being so close to him, and her arms around him, and his around her…

"EP!" Momo suddenly let go when she realized what she was doing, "S- sorry…"

Toshiro pulled himself farther into the collar of his coat, and found himself glad it was so dark outside, because he was almost certain his face was flushing right about now.

The rest of the walk was rather silent, but the awkwardness went away by the time they reached the downtown center.

Shortly after they were inside the concert began to start. The two enjoyed the music and danced some, when suddenly Toshiro turned to Momo.

"Hey, Hinamori?" He screamed over the music.

"Yeah?" Momo screamed back.

"I kind of have a favor to ask!"

Momo felt a sudden wave of heat run through her chest, "Uh huh?!" She yelled.

"You know that end of season party or whatever?" He cried.

Uh oh. There goes that wave of heat again. Momo gulped, _Is this it?_ She thought, _Is he going to ask me?_

"Y- Yeah?" She responded.

"Well I was kind of…" Toshiro began, "Woaah, Hinamori are you okay? EH! HINAMORI?"

very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very sorry it took so long.

oo


	12. Mutual Embarrassment

"Hey, Hinamori

"Hey, Hinamori?" He screamed over the music.

"Yeah?" Momo screamed back.

"I kind of have a favor to ask!"

Momo felt a sudden wave of heat run through her chest, "Uh huh?!" She yelled.

"You know that end of season party or whatever?" He cried.

Uh oh. There goes that wave of heat again. Momo gulped, _Is this it?_ She thought, _Is he going to ask me?_

"Y- Yeah?" She responded.

"Well I was kind of…" Toshiro began, "Woaah, Hinamori are you okay? EH! HINAMORI?"

Toshiro acted quickly, as he caught the small girl before she even fell. Heaving her up to carry her bridal style, Toshiro made his way to the outdoor hallway in the downtown center.

He laid her down on a nearby bench, the dulled sounds of the concert drifting into his ears. After running into the nearby bathroom to get something cold for her head, Toshiro sat down on the bench next to her.

Placing his head on his hand, and his elbow on his knee, Toshiro sighed, "Eh, Hinamori? Why'd you have to go and faint right when I was about to ask you out?"

He looked at her. No answer.

Laughing at himself, he placed his hands behind his head and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. This was always the sort of situations that happened the books and movies. The girl would faint, and the guy would go all hero and save her, and she'd wake up and be like 'Oh! Thank you for saving me! I think I've suddenly fallen in love with you!' Toshiro scoffed, _yeah right_, he thought.

He glanced down at Momo again. How pretty she was. He smiled. Suddenly, on random impulse, he lifted up her head and eased it into his lap. He gently brushed some hair from her face. After a few minutes of staring at her face, he found his own lowering down to her level his head turning to the proper angle, as his lips got closer and closer to hers, and then-

"THUNK!" A sudden pain meet Toshiro's forehead, as he found his face being launched backwards. Then he noticed Momo was sitting upright; she was awake! Toshiro silently cursed himself, why had he done that?!

"Toshiro?" Momo said in a slight daze, "What happened?"

"Uhm," Toshiro heard his voice crack a bit, "Uh… you fainted."

"Oh no!" Momo said as she jumped up to her feet, "I'm so sorry! How embarrassing!"

"Um. No. I-it's really fine…" Toshiro avoided eye contact, apparently she didn't remember… thank goodness, "You were probably just hot, or de- dehydrated or something…"

"I guess so," Momo agreed, "Maybe we should go outside... You look rather flushed too."

Toshiro felt his face heat up even more, "U-uh yeah…" He rubbed his hand on his cheek, as if to try to rub away the blush, "Let's go outside."

After getting out into the cold night air, Toshiro regained some cool.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked calmly, as he saw Momo dizzily sit down on a bench.

"Uh, Yeah. I'm fine…" Momo's head was racing, what had just happened? She remembered him mentioning the dance… and then suddenly her eyes had blinked open and then his face was hovering above hers, and she had thought he was going too… and she had panicked and sat up quickly… But he probably was just checking to see if she was all right… … had her head been in his lap?

Momo's face flushed.

"Positive?" Toshiro questioned further.

"Mhmm…." Momo murmured weakly, wishing she could sink into her giant coat.

Neither said anything for awhile, because neither could really think of anything to say. What exactly is someone supposed to say in a situation like this?

"So anyway," Toshiro started, "What I was saying before you fainted…"

Momo looked up at him sharply, had he actually been asking her…?

Toshiro looked up from his feet to her, "Promise you won't faint again or anything?"

Momo laughed light heartily, but feared that her nervousness showed through her laugh.

"Well, the thing is…" Toshiro felt himself getting nervous, "This end of season party or whatever…" Why was this so hard? He cleared his throat, "Well anyway, I'm supposed to bring someone with me, and well, you see… would you?"

Momo stared, had he actually just asked her? "Uh," Momo stuttered, nervous, "O-of course!" After she processed what had just happened, a smile spread across her face.

"Okay, thanks," Toshiro said, "I just, didn't know who to ask, and I thought…"

Momo's enthusiasm suddenly dropped, had he actually wanted to go with her, or was she just his last resort? Why was life so complicated?!

"Oh!" Toshiro suddenly exclaimed, "The concert is ending right about now, we should probably head out before the crowds come."

"Right." Momo said, as they stood up and headed back home.

The walk back was rather silent, only with the occasional light exchange of words. But it wasn't really necessarily awkward. Momo silently relished sharing Toshiro's company in silent. She didn't need to talk to him to be happy that he was around, just being around him was enough for her sometimes. Momo silently smiled to herself, remembering that she would be spending all night at the dance with him next week.

The two silently crept back into the house; since it was pretty late, Jushiro and Granny were already asleep. They reached up to the third floor where both their rooms were, and both went to their separate doors, when Toshiro suddenly turned around.

"U-um." Toshiro stuttered nervously, "Can you keep the dance thing between us for now? It's just Rangiku and yeah- I don't want them to misunderstand or anything…"

"O-okay." Momo whispered back, "Sure."

"Thanks," Toshiro said and paused, "Thanks for agreeing to go with me also."

"Of course, and thanks for tonight. It was fun, well at least the parts I was conscious for," Momo giggled quietly.

Toshiro grinned, "Well, you probably need some rest, so I'll just talk to you in the morning."

"Technically it is morning," Momo pointed out, it was about 1 in the morning.

"Well then." Toshiro said, "See you in a few hours."

Momo giggled more, "Sure."

Both went into their separate doors, and Momo plopped down on her bed.

That morning seemed like so long ago, and school, and even dinner seemed distant. All Momo could think about now was Toshiro. She was going to the dance with Toshiro! Momo smiled and laughed girlishly into her pillow, extra careful that Toshiro didn't hear.

She really wanted to tell someone, but Toshiro had asked her not too… _Wonder what that means…_ And as Momo silently pondered Toshiro's intent, two doors over Toshiro did the same.

Why had he asked her not to tell anyone? It had just sort of come out. Like word barf. _That sounds kind of nasty._ Toshiro wrinkled his nose, as he changed into his pajamas. It's not like he was embarrassed to be going with Momo, because he wasn't. He really liked her, and his nervousness stood testament to that.

Toshiro sighed as he plopped back down on his bed. His intentions didn't really matter, he thought as he felt a sheepish grin come onto his face; he was going to the dance with Momo.

The next few days passed by as many of the others before it had, quickly. Since the big game was on Thursday, much of Toshiro's time was eaten up by extra intense practices and games. As a result, Momo and Toshiro hadn't really seen much of each other since the Taco Palace incident. However Momo went to as many of the games as she could, and sometimes even stayed and watched the boys practice.

She found that she was becoming infatuated with him. And that scared her. She'd never really liked anyone that much before, and she didn't really have any experience with relationships before… _Then again, neither has he…_ Momo found herself thinking, she shook the thought away, _he probably doesn't even like me anyway…_ Momo sighed, as her eyes followed Toshiro as he ran in a scrimmage. While he didn't know she was there, she found comfort in watching him. She smiled softly, how terrifying, falling so hard for some guy. Who probably didn't even like her. Or maybe he did. It was so hard to tell! She kept getting all sorts of weird mixed messages.

Momo stood up, and grabbed her bags, vanquishing the thoughts. As she started back to the house, she tried to stop thinking about him. After all, Toshiro had other, more important things to think about, she was probably the farthest thing from his mind…

The ball left Toshiro's foot with violet force, flying towards the goal, straight into the corner. TING! The ball bounced of the goal post, and came right back and hit Toshiro straight in the head.

"OOF!" Toshiro cried as the impact knocked him over.

"Woah!" Ichigo exclaimed as he rushed over to his fallen friend, "You okay man?"

"Ugh," Toshiro reached for Ichigo's outstretched hand and pulled himself up, "Y-yeah. I'm alright."

"We'll call it a day for now," The coach yelled out to the team, "Be back tomorrow! In one piece preferably!"

The team broke up, and headed out, while Ichigo and Toshiro, still slightly dizzy, remained on the bleachers.

"What's up with you recently, man?" Ichigo inquired, "Your mind's not really in the game."

"I guess not," Toshiro replied as he looked away, Momo's cheery face flashed in his mind momentarily. He grimaced; no way some girl was distracting him from his game. Then again, she wasn't just some girl…

"I'll walk you home, the coach would probably kill me if I let his star get injured on the way home." Ichigo said chuckling as he grabbed his and Toshiro's bags.

"Thanks." Toshiro said as they left the field.

"So," Ichigo said as they headed down the street, "Is it a girl?"

"Is what a girl?"

"Whatever's distracting you from your game?" Ichigo said, and to Toshiro's lengthy pause he added, "It is isn't it? I bet it's Momo. Aww. How cute. Little Toshiro and Momo."

"Shut up."

"He doesn't deny it!"

"What about you?" Toshiro turned the conversation back on Ichigo, "You've certainly got a lot of girls going after you. Who are you going to ask to the end of season dance thing?"

Ichigo suddenly got real quiet, "I actually already asked someone," He mumbled.

"Woah?" Toshiro exclaimed, "Seriously? Who?"

Ichigo muttered something inaudibly beneath his breath.

"What was that?"

More mumbles.

Toshiro glared, "Come on."

"RUKIA, OKAY?" Ichigo exclaimed.

Toshiro was silent, "Really? I'm surprised."

"Why?" Ichigo seemed very self-conscious suddenly.

"Well I mean, I always knew you wanted too, but never thought you'd have the courage."

Ichigo glared at his short friend, "Whatever."

"I'm also surprised she said yes," Toshiro continued, "I mean, who'd agree to go out with an oaf like you? I mean really- OOF!"

Ichigo threw Toshiro's bag at his back, "Dumb ass. I'm going this way. But I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Toshiro said, as he leaned down to pick up his bag, "Thanks!"

"Sure," Ichigo cried over his shoulder, already well on his way in the opposite direction, "Anytime."

Toshiro stared for a moment at the retreating form of his friend.

Somehow the fact that Toshiro had asked Momo to the dance, and that she had agreed, hadn't come out in that conversation. Toshiro thought, bemused; he was already scared about going with her, now he had to worry about how to tell everyone else. Or maybe he just wouldn't… that would certainly be a lot easier.

Toshiro placed his hands behind his head and stretched causally. Ichigo had been right about his game, now wasn't the time to be thinking about Momo, he needed to focus on playing. After all, the first game of the championships started the next day. Although since their team was a high seed, the challenging games wouldn't be starting until the next week. But when they did start- the other teams had better lookout. Because Toshiro had his heart set out on winning, both the games, and the girl.

--

'o'


	13. Accustomed Awakenings

Just as Toshiro had expected, their team dominated the first few games. In fact, the first game had been so easy, that their coach forbid them from making any more goals, so the other team wouldn't be too embarrassed. The first week of the championships went by with the Parker High team undefeated. Initially, Toshiro had just vowed to keep Momo out of his mind until the last game was over, but he was finding this harder and harder to do as the day of the dance drew nearer.

Assuming that the team remained strong and continued to play as they had the first week, the team would play Tuesday, Wednesday and then have the championship game on Thursday. Win or lose, the dance would be the following Friday; although it would hopefully be a win, because Toshiro couldn't imagine himself having to face the school with a loss after all the hype everyone had made about him. But there was another reason that Toshiro was dreading the end of the next week. He was as nervous as hell.

Even though it was completely out of character, and random, and silly, and stupid- he was completely nervous about going to the dance with Momo. Even though, as he kept having to remind himself, they were just going as friends, Toshiro couldn't help but see her as more than a friend. In the past few months that she had been at Parker High, he began to have quite a bit of a crush on her. Geez even thinking about it made him blush. He ran his hand through his wet hair, as he leaned back to relax on his bed. He stared at the ceiling. Upon coming back from his late practice, he had immediately taken a shower, grabbed some quick dinner, which he brought up to his room, where he had remained all night. Due to his nervousness, he found that he had been unconsciously avoiding Momo, and then gradually it became more conscious, as he became more nervous.

His stomach clenched just thinking about it. He rolled over to his side. One more week. In just one more week, he would be at the dance with Momo. Would they have to dance? Oh gosh. Of course they would. This was a dance after all. Toshiro inwardly winced. He really hoped he was a good dancer…

--

The next morning came to early for Momo. She hadn't been able to sleep the night before, her thoughts keeping her up into the wee hours of the morning. Although she wasn't sure why, she almost got the feeling Toshiro was avoiding her. Hadn't he just asked her to go to the dance with him? How could he totally change his mind about her? Or maybe he thought she misinterpreted him just asking her as a friend and now thought she liked him and was avoiding him because he didn't feel the same way and didn't want to tell her because she was just too nice and… Momo's thoughts slowly became random gibberish as she began to panic.

_That's it!_ She resolved, _I don't care what Toshiro asked of me, I really need some advice!_

She decided that she was going to tell Rangiku and Rukia. They were going to have to know eventually, and Momo _still _didn't understand why Toshiro had asked her not to tell. So with that small peace of mind, Momo was finally able to get some rest.

"TACOS ARE MY BEST FRIENDS! AND THEY TASTE SOOOO GOOD!" Taco Palace suddenly burst through Momo's dreams.

"Garrrhh." Momo groaned as she reached over to the nearby table and clasped her hand around her phone. Flipping open the top, she sleepily managed a mere, " 'ello?"

Of course it was Rangiku. Unlike the first time Rangiku had called Momo so early in the morning, Momo was now accustomed to the frequent Saturday wake up call. How the hell Rangiku managed to wake up so early was beyond Momo. Perhaps it was because Rangiku slept at such strange hours anyway…

"Heyyy, Momo!" Rangiku's cheery upbeat voice came through the phone, "Awake yet?"

Momo yawned, as she sat up and threw her legs over the bedside, hunching over, eyes half open, she answered her friend, "Yeah."

"Good! Well me and Rukia were planning on going dress shopping for the dance today, and I don't know if you have one or not, but you should come anyway so me and Rukia can pick you out a really nice one that will totally knock Toshiro's socks off! Oh! And guess what!?" Rangiku's excitement could barely be contained.

Momo rubbed her eyes as she perked up a bit, her voice notably more alert, "What?"

"Guess who Rukia is going to the dance with!"

"Ichigo?"

"YES!!" Rangiku practically screamed into the phone.

"SERIOUSLY?" Momo asked, completely awake now.

"That's what I said!" Rangiku exclaimed chuckling, "I knew I was right about them!"

"Well good for her!" Momo said, "It's about time."

"Indeed!" Rangiku agreed.

"So what time are we going to go?"

"We were planning on maybe 11 or something. Get some shopping in, get some grub, than more shopping!" Rangiku cheered.

Momo glanced at the clock. It was about 10 till 9, "Sure that sounds great!" Momo said, "So are you going to go to the dance with any body Rangiku?"

"Eh." Rangiku said vaguely.

Momo wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but she knew that it meant at least that Rangiku didn't want to talk about it, so Momo decided not to press the subject.

"How about you?" Rangiku asked suddenly, "Has Toshiro asked you yet?"

Momo was quiet for a moment, last night she had decided to tell Rangiku and Rukia, but now she was hesitating… No she had made up her mind, she was going to tell them, but how to put it into words without saying something embarrassing…

"OH MY GOD. HE DID?" Rangiku suddenly blurted out to Momo's silence.

"I- Uh-" Momo stuttered, how did Rangiku know?

"Your sudden pause said it all, Momo," Rangiku continued, "He seriously asked you! Oh my goodness!" Rangiku cheered over the phone, gushing over her younger friends, "I need to know the details! When, how? Did he blush. Aww I bet he did. How cute! Little Captain is growing up!"

Momo blushed over the phone, glad that Rangiku couldn't see her.

"Okay, you need to tell me and Rukia all about it… Hmm. Maybe we should meet before 11. How about 10? Meet you outside?"

"Sounds good." Momo said, finally getting over her mild embarrassment enough to say something.

"Bye!" Momo closed her phone and set it on the table. She slowly grinned to herself, and for that moment, it didn't matter what Toshiro's intentions had been. She was just glad that she, Momo Hinamori, was going to the dance with the guy of her dreams, Toshiro Hitsugaya.

--

The next hour passed by quickly as Momo changed, went downstairs, grabbed some cereal, and headed into the dinning room, where she found Ukitake already seated. She sat down next to him, as he looked up from the paper.

"Morning, Momo!" He said cheerily, as he folded and set aside his paper, "Sleep well?"

"Yes I did thank you!" Momo lied, "And you?"

"Wonderfully!" Ukitake said, "Toshiro awake yet?"

"I don't think so…" Momo said.

"Yes." Toshiro answered as he stepped into the room, still wearing pajama pants and a loose fitting t-shirt, "Thanks to stupid Taco Palace…" He murmured as he headed into the kitchen in search of some breakfast.

Momo blushed, being reminded of that night Toshiro had taken her to the Taco Palace concert, and then asked her to the dance… Which reminded her that she was supposed to meet Rangiku outside to go shopping for dresses.

"Ukitake," Momo asked, "Is it alright if I go shopping with Rukia and Rangiku today?"

"Of course!" He answered, "By all means. Please do. What is it you guys are looking for?" He asked politely.

"Dresses… For the dance…" She trailed off.

"Oh yes. Of course," Ukitake said, "So are you going with anyone in particular?"

Momo felt a sudden wave of heat run through her chest, what was she supposed to say? That she was going with Toshiro? He was in the other room! She couldn't lie though; she didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea… Oh goodness. How did she always get into these situations?

Then right as she began to stutter nervous, incoherent words, the dinning room was filled with the musical styling of Taco Palace.

"TACOS ARE MY BEST FRIENDS! AND THEY TASTE SOOOO GOOD!"

"Sorry!" Momo said, as she pulled her phone from her pocket, "Hello?"

"OH MY GOD!" Rukia's loud voice came through the small speaker in the phone, "TOSHIRO ASKED YOU TO THE DANCE?" Momo blushed, as she turned away from Ukitake, she really hoped he didn't hear that.

"Hey Rukia," Momo glanced down at her watch, it was about 9:55, "I'll be out in about 5 minutes, okay?"

Momo quickly hung up the phone before Ukitake was able to make out Rukia's screaming over the phone.

"Sorry! They're waiting for me. Have a good day!" Momo said, as she stuffed her phone back in her pocket, and picked up her empty cereal bowl.

"You too! Have fun shopping!" Ukitake called after her as she hurried into the kitchen.

Momo quickly put her dishes into the dishwasher, and began to scurry out, but slowed down the pace when she saw Toshiro quietly snacking on some toast at the kitchen counter, just watching her.

"Going dress shopping, eh?" He asked.

"Yea." Momo said, sounding more confident then she felt. For some reason, she just seemed to melt when he stared at her like that, as if she was the only person in the world at that moment. Toshiro just did that to her.

"Have fun." He said. They was simple words, they had a slightly cold demeanor, but they weren't sarcastic, or meant to be rude. Momo had come to realize that was just the way he was. He sometimes had a hard time being as outgoing or friendly as Ukitake or Rangiku. He just had his own way of doing things.

"Thanks!" Momo said cheerily, just happy to be around him. She headed out of the kitchen, her heart pounding a little bit in her chest. She grabbed her jacket as she opened the front door. Sure enough Rangiku and Rukia were right there on the sidewalk in front of the house waiting for her.

"MOMO!" They both cried as they rushed up to her, "DETAILS."

Momo blushed, "Nice to see you guys too."

"Come one. Spill." Rukia said, as the three began to walk towards downtown.

"Hey, Rukia, you seem to have something interesting to share also," Momo teased, "Why don't you elaborate on how Ichigo asked you to the dance?"

Rukia blushed and adverted her eyes, but remained confident in her words, "It wasn't really a question, but more rather a demand…"

Rangiku shook her head in a disapproving way, "That's just like Ichigo. So what exactly did he say?"

"Well…" Rukia continued as she racked her brain for the details, "We were just kind of walking in the hallway and he being and idiot like usual and… he just sort of said, 'Hey you midget,'" Rangiku and Momo laughed at Rukia's impersonation of Ichigo, "'You're going to the dance with me on Friday, got it?' and I of course argued, but than gave in because I know he'll never be able to find anyone else willing to go with him…"

Rangiku and Momo laughed, it was quite obvious that Rukia was pleased to be going to the dance with Ichigo.

"Actually Rukia. I heard that quite a few girls already asked _him_ if he wanted to go to the dance with them. He must think you're pretty special to _demand _that you go with him…" Rangiku hinted. Rukia simply looked away and managed a small attempt at an uninterested,

"Hmm…"

Rangiku laughed once again at Rukia's poor inability to hide her crush, but then turned her attention back to her other friend whom also did a poor job at hiding her crush.

"So, Momo." Rangiku said, "You still need to spill the beans about Toshiro."

"Well…" Momo started, she did _not_ want to tell them the whole story about her fainting, and such, so she just cut the long story short, "He invited me to a Taco Palace concert, and then as we were leaving just asked if I'd go with him, as a favor and all…"

"Taco Palace?" Rukia asked, "Seriously? That's pretty awesome!"

"Yeah!" Momo said, blushing.

"Well," Rangiku said, matter-of-factly, "At least Toshiro knows how to ask a girl out properly, although he said it was 'just as a favor' as in 'just friends?'"

"Yes." Momo replied, she bit her tongue, wondering whether or not she should tell them about him not asking her to tell anyone, well, since she already told them about him asking her, so she might as well tell them everything, "Actually, he asked me not to tell anyone…"

"Seriously?" Rangiku questioned, "Weird."

"Yeah. Why do you think he did that?"

Rangiku pondered for a minute, "You know what I think? I think that he really likes you, and doesn't want to go as 'just friends' but is scared that you don't like him back. He doesn't want you to tell anyone because he's afraid that I'll will misinterpret his intentions, which aren't actually what you think they are, so, by my misinterpreting them, I am actually guessing what his real intentions are, and he doesn't want that, because than I will probably tell you that he likes you, but he is still scared that you won't like him back," Rangiku paused for a breath, "Or maybe he's just a little embarrassed that he asked a girl out, he never has before."

Momo was silent for a moment while she tried to take all that information in.

"Well, at any rate, we need to pick out fabulous dresses for both of you guys so you will bring those two boys to their knees!" Rangiku screamed, as she began to pick up the pace, dragging her two small friends behind her.

Rukia and Momo exchanged glances, this was going to be an interesting shopping trip…

--

Who should Rangiku go to the dance with, or should she go alone? What do you think? I'm still undecided.


	14. Discreet Solemnness

Rukia and Momo laughed as Rangiku burst out of the dressing room, displaying the latest thing she had tried on. She now draped in the most ridiculous looking dress Momo had ever seen. It was lime green, with hot pink frills almost everywhere. It completely enveloped Rangiku, it almost seemed as if it were eating her.

"How do I look?" Rangiku said, adorning a new bizarre accent of some sort.

"Gorgeous darling!" Rukia commented.

"I'm speechless!" Momo cried.

All three laughed as Rangiku examined herself more fully in the mirror, "Not extravagant enough."

More laughter ensued. They had been dress shopping for awhile now, and without having any luck, had just decided to kick back and have some fun, as all three took turns trying on bizarre dresses.

Rangiku headed back into the dressing room and quickly stripped of the 'dress.' She shoved another bizarre dress at Rukia and smiled sweetly, "Your turn!"

Rukia smirked back, and went into the dressing room, as Rangiku and Momo laughed at what they had selected for Rukia.

Rukia was to try on the most ridiculous looking dress Momo and Rangiku had been able to scrounge up. It had little loop shapes all the way down to the ankles alternating in deep purple and dark green. The top sported two fat straps covered in bright purple lace.

Rukia came out her face twisted in disgust, "This is the ugliest thing I have ever seen." She glowered.

Momo and Rangiku laughed hysterically at their friend.

"Yeah, yeah." Rukia said, "Laugh all you want," She looked at herself in the mirror, her arms crossed upon her chest, and a pout on her face. She really did look silly. Storming back into the dressing room she quickly rid herself of the ugly dress.

"We've been out here for like an hour and a half," Rukia commented, "And haven't made any progress. Maybe we should go get something to eat to get our minds back on task? Besides… I can't bear having to wear another one of these monstrosities."

Rangiku chuckled, "You know you love it, Rukia. Anyway, that sounds good. How bout's we head to the food court?"

Rukia opened the door, dressed in her normal clothes again, "Okay."

Momo stood up from her spot on the floor and dusted herself off a bit, "Let's go!" She said cheerfully.

The girls made their way over to the food court, and each ordered. They sat down at a nearby table.

As they began to eat their lunches, Rukia decided to bring up a new topic, "So, Rangiku… Are you going to go to the dance alone?"

Rangiku, for once wasn't all happy and cheery, she adverted her eyes and sipped quietly on her straw, "Yeah. Probably."

"And Gin…?" Rukia asked, as Momo looked on confused.

"What about him?" Rangiku said, seemingly uninterested.

"Has he-" Rukia started, but then was cut off.

"I don't care about him anymore, Rukia!" Rangiku snapped, and then became slightly flustered.

"You obviously do." Rukia retorted, "Otherwise you wouldn't be going to the dance alone."

Rangiku was silent, then slowly raised her hand and sat it under her chin, she gazed through her friends mindlessly, "Whatever."

Momo turned to Rukia confused.

"Tell you later…" Rukia mouthed and gestured.

Momo narrowed her eyes questionably, but then towards Rangiku's dejected spirit she smiled and said, "Who's ready to go shopping again? I hear it's 20% of all shoes at the cute shoe store on the other side of the mall…"

"SHOES?" Rangiku said, perking up, "Let's go!" She dumped her and her friend's trays into a nearby trashcan and practically dragged them out of their chairs and towards the shoe store.

It relieved Momo to see her friend looking less dejected, but Momo was seriously worried, and could tell something was up. But somewhere she knew that Rangiku was a strong woman and could deal, still, she would not let Rukia get away with not spilling the beans. They'd have to have a little talk later…

Upon arriving at the shoe store, Rangiku seemed to have completely forgotten about whatever it was that had been bothering her before. In fact, she had almost tried on every single shoe in the store, and had picked out 5 pairs, which she had exclaimed that she 'most absolutely HAD to have!'

Momo had actually found a really nice pair of shoes too. In fact, it had almost been like love at first sight.

They were light blue colored flats, with a thick white ribbon stretching across the arc of her foot, and a small bow on the corner of each shoe. Momo had immediately tried them on, and surprisingly they actually fit, and they were comfy. They were like the most perfect pair of shoes to ever exist.

"Oh my gosh, Momo you have to get those!" Rangiku exclaimed, "You should wear them to the dance! I'm sure Toshiro would love themmm!"

Rukia laughed but agreed, "Yeah, Momo. You really should get them."

"I don't even have a dress to go with them though…" Momo pointed out.

"Well we'll have to find one then won't we?" Rangiku said, and then put on her 'thinking face.' "Hmm, what would go good with those shoes?"

"Something simple, and white maybe?" Rukia suggested.

"Hmm…" Rangiku's face suddenly lit up, "Hey Rukia! Do you remember this past summer when we went into that boutique and they had that dress that we both tried on but I was too busty and you weren't busty enough and so neither of us got it because it didn't fit even though it was really, really cute?"

Rukia was silent, then said slowly, "Uh. No."

"What? You know," Rangiku continued, "The one that was white and went like this?" Rangiku motioned her arms outward from her waist and down to her knees.

"Oh yeah!" Rukia exclaimed in realization, "That one! Hey that would look really good on Momo don't you think?"

"Yess!" Rangiku cried, "That's what I was saying."

All three girls laughed before Rangiku continued, "Anyway, Momo. It's really cute, it's like white and poofy and it was only like 30 dollars or something… we're going over there as soon as we get all the shoes!"

True to her word, Rangiku pulled her two friends right out the door after the shoes were purchased. They headed to the other end of the mall and into a small almost hidden boutique.

"Hmm." Rangiku said, "I saw them over here like last month… I wonder if they have them anymore…" She rustled through racks of clothing.

"Maybe it's in clearance?" Momo suggested.

"Maybe…" Rangiku murmured as she hustled towards the clearance section in the back.

It wasn't but a minute after they got back there that Rukia called from the dense racks of clothing, "Found it!" Her friends quickly rushed over.

"Oohh." Momo uttered, as she stared at the dress. It really was quite as amazing as the girls had described.

Despite being quite a simple dress, it really was captivating. It was strapless, had a thick white ribbon right below the bust, and then flowed out from the waist, down to the knee. Poking out from under the main fabric at the end of the dress was simple white frilly lace, which caused the dress to poof out even more.

"Stop your gawking and try the damn thing on!" Rangiku said playfully as she lightly pushed Momo into the nearest dressing room. Rukia passed her the dress and shut the door.

Momo looked at herself in the mirror in the dressing room, her arms clasped around the frilly dress. There was no way she was going to look good in such a beautiful dress. She was sure of it. But there was no way of getting out of trying it on now. Rangiku and Rukia were so excited for her…

Momo temporarily hung the dress on a bar, and lifted her shirt over her head. Might as well get it over with. She pulled her bra straps under her arms, and quickly grabbed the dress and pulled it over her head. She hated being so exposed, even when she was changing.

After straightening the dress, she zipped up the side, and slid her pants off from under the dress.

Without even inspecting herself in the mirror, she opened the door for Rukia and Rangiku, "Okayyyy."

Her two friends were silent. Before Rukia broke the silence, "Oh my god. You are so gorgeous Momo."

"W-what?" Momo stammered.

"It's true!" Rukia exclaimed, "Turn around!"

"Wait!" Rangiku cried and her hands flew up to Momo's hair. Momo felt her hair bun loosening, then her hair fell around her face.

Rangiku grinned wildly, and then grabbed Momo's shoulders and twisted her friend so she could see herself in the mirror.

All three were silent, as Momo looked in the mirror.

She really did look pretty, she thought to herself.

Her hair was kind of messy, but in an attractive way, as it framed her face with a personality seeming of it's own. The tips of her hair brushed her collarbone, and the skin on her shoulders was completely revealed. Her bust looked full, her waist looked tiny, and the shape of the dress just looked absolutely stunning on her.

Momo turned around some to examine herself from all sides. She had to admit, the dress really did highlight her figure, and she looked pretty damn attractive.

Rangiku suddenly laughed heartily.

"What?" Momo said turning around, suddenly worried there might be something wrong with her appearance.

"It's nothing really," Rangiku said, still giggling, "I was just thinking that as much as I'm sure that Toshiro will love seeing that on you, I'm sure he'd love taking it off of you even more."

Momo's face immediately turned the reddest either of her friends had ever seen it. "Rangiku!" She exclaimed.

Rukia and Rangiku both simultaneously broke out in fits of laughter at their poor, innocent friend.

Momo pushed them out of the dressing room and proceeded to immediately, and hastily change back into her old outfit.

When she finished she burst out of the room, dress in her arms, her friends still laughing.

She fumed past them, faking anger, and proceeded to the checkout line.

Rukia and Rangiku quickly caught up with her, getting over their giggles.

"I'm just kidding." Rangiku said, "Besides, Toshiro would never do something like that. Although, you never know. I'm pretty sure you could seduce him in that dress if you tried."

Rukia and Rangiku laughed again, and Momo spared a quick chuckle. They were now in the check out line, and Momo pulled out a 20. Turns out the dress was on sale for $17. It really was her lucky day! She had found the perfect dress and the perfect shoes and both were on sale!

"Hey check out that top!" Rangiku said pointing at a nearby shirt.

"We'll be right back, Momo." Rukia said as she and Rangiku made their way to another part of the store.

"Kay." Momo responded cheerfully as she waited patiently in line.

Finally she was at the front of the line.

"Hello. Find everything you were looking for?" A cheerful voice greeted her.

Momo looked up to see a tall teenager who looked about her own age. His blonde hair covered up part of his face, but his kind expression reached Momo's eyes.

"I did, thank you." Momo said as she placed the dress on the counter.

The man took the dress and looked at it, "Ooh. Nice choice. This is one of my favorites. Is it for some special occasion?" He said as he rung up the price tag.

"School dance." Momo said cheerfully.

"Do you go to Parker High?" He asked.

"I do actually." She responded curiously.

"Really?" He said turning to her from the cash register.

"Yeah…"

"Me too. I haven't seen you around though."

"I'm new." She responded politely, handing him her 20.

"Ahh. Freshman?" He asked as he began punching in numbers and getting her change.

"Sophmore. You?"

"Junior." He handed her the money, "1.81 is your change."

"Thanks." Momo said cheerfully.

"Well it was nice meeting you…." He trailed off as he began handing her the bag.

"Momo Hinamori." She said accepting the bag.

"Nice to meet you Momo. I'm Izuru Kira."

"Okay, Momo! We're ready!" Rangiku approached her friend from behind, then suddenly saw Kira, "Oh. Kira! Hey!"

"Hey Rangiku." Kira smiled weakly, "How've you been?"

Rangiku returned the weak smile, "I've been better. You?"

"Same. Well it was nice seeing you guys. Maybe I'll see you around school sometime." He said.

"Nice meeting you!" Momo exclaimed as the three friends walked off.

Once they had long exited the store, Momo asked, "Do you know him from school, Rangiku?"

Her friend seemed to be contemplating something before she finally answered, "Um, Yeah."

Behind Rangiku's back, Momo shot Rukia a questioning look. Once again, Rukia motioned to her, 'later'.

Rangiku once again seemed quite solemn as she had earlier. What was going on here?

---

I am so so so so sorry this took so long. I'm working on the next chapter right now! My goal is to get this chapter out in a week! I shall update quickly! I SWEAR! : O


	15. Opaque Eruption

Toshiro was thinking absentmindedly as he stirred the pasta. His uncle and grandmother had gone out for the night, to see some old friends or something, so Toshiro had taken the liberty of cooking some dinner for himself and Momo. That's why he currently found himself stirring pasta, as his mind drifted away.

It was about 5:30 on a Sunday night. The big game was on Thursday, and then the dance was on Friday. Toshiro's stomach twisted of nerves at the thought.

First off, he was so, so very nervous about taking Momo to the dance. In fact, he'd become so nervous that he realized he had been unintentionally avoiding her. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea, but he was constantly nervous all the time. Why did he have to like her so damn much?

Secondly, his distracting thoughts of Momo were ruining his game, and almost the entire school was counting on him to help the team win this game. He couldn't afford to let his nervousness regarding Momo ruin the team's chances of winning the game.

It was these thoughts that led Toshiro to finally decide that he had to go up to and talk to Momo: make things less awkward, chat, that sort of thing.

Setting down his stirring stick, he nervously ran his fingers through his hair. This was going to be an interesting week.

--

Meanwhile, upstairs, an exhausted Momo plopped down on her bed, dangling her limbs over the sides.

She'd just gotten home from her latest shopping trip with Rukia and Rangiku. She'd found the perfect shoes and dress almost immediately, however Rukia and Rangiku hadn't been quite as lucky. But both eventually found dresses that fit them in all the right places.

Rukia found a black dress with lots of lace and kind of a grunge or urban look to it. It came down to about mid-thigh with several layers. She'd also found some nice simple black heels, surprising both Momo and Rangiku. Heels weren't exactly Rukia's style, but Rukia claimed it was just because she didn't want Ichigo making fun of her height. Rangiku suspected it did have something to do with Ichigo, but didn't quite think it had anything to do with Rukia's height…

Rangiku had also found a nice dress. It was a dark red rich gown that hugged her body in all the right places, so she looked gorgeous, but not promiscuous.

Speaking of Rangiku, Momo was reminded of her mysterious behavior earlier. Despite her curiosity, Momo refrained from calling Rukia at the moment, knowing that her friend probably wasn't home yet. Momo glanced at the clock. It was almost 6. Rukia would probably be eating dinner soon. She'd have to ask her later.

Momo sat up, dangling her feet off the bed. Her thoughts went back to her own dress, which she had purchased earlier that day. Bending down, she pulled it out of the bag. Holding it an arm's length away, she inspected it. She was quite happy with the dress. It was everything she had hoped. She could feel her heart pounding just from thinking about her wearing that dress to the dance, with Toshiro.

Momo suddenly jumped up and walked over to her mirror. She held the dress up in front of her, trying to remember exactly what she looked like wearing it.

Just that moment the door opened. Startled, Momo screamed and fell over; she now sat on the ground clutching the white dress in her lap. She looked up to see who had entered the room.

Standing there, looking rather confused, was Toshiro. He grinned and walked over to where she was. He outstretched his hand to her. Embarrassed, she latched onto his hand and he helped her up.

"Scare easily?" He teased.

"No," She said turning her back towards him, "You just startled me…"

"Oh really?" He said, then squeezed her waist from behind.

She let out a squeal as she jumped and pulled away, dropping the dress in the process.

Toshiro chuckled; she was so cute.

Momo hastily picked up the dress and turned to him, "Jerk," She said, though kidding.

"Hmm," He murmured, diverting his attention around the room, and then back to her, "What's that?" He motioned towards the white pile of fabric in her arms.

"A dress." She said.

"For the dance?" He asked.

"Yeah." She responded.

Both were silent again. He'd been doing so well! But suddenly all the nervousness he'd felt before came back.

"H-hey," He said, "Thanks again for doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Going with me," He said, "To the dance you know."

She was silent, unsure of what to say.

"Y- you are still going with me right?" Toshiro said, his heart freezing, yet burning at the same time, suddenly afraid she might have changed her mind.

"Y-yeah." She said, pressing the fabric of her dress anxiously.

Both were silent again, Momo was internally deliberating weather or not she should question his motives in asking her to the dance. She wanted to know so bad if he actually liked her or not, but she was terrified of the answer. The two of them being alone together in her room make her nervous as hell, and she found herself becoming the same introverted girl she was before she came to Parker High.

"Hey," Momo started, turning around to face him, "C-can I ask you something?"

He looked up at her, and his hands sank lower into his pockets, "Shoot," he said coolly, even though inside, he was terrified of what she was about to ask.

Across from him, Momo was just as terrified of what she was about to ask also, the words were on the tip of her tongue; all she had to do was speak them! Speaking should not be this hard!

Her tongue played with her top molars for a moment, as her eyes were locked onto his, this was the moment, this was it, and she finally began to speak, "N-nevermind."

The tension suddenly flew from Toshiro's shoulders, and he unexpectedly felt himself relax.

Momo suddenly became aware that she was still holding the dress, and in desperate attempt to lighten the atmosphere reinitiated the conversation, "Want to see the dress?"

Toshiro looked at her, "That's okay…" Her heart fell, "I'll let it be a surprise," Her heart rose again. Damn him for sending such mixed messages.

Momo uttered a sound of curt agreement, and carefully put the dress on a hanger and hung it in the closet, all the while painstakingly aware of his eyes on her back.

"So," She said, still desperately aware of her current levels of awkwardness and nervousness, "Did you want something?"

Toshiro cleared his throat, suddenly remembering he had actually come up for a reason, not just to gawk at his crush, "Uh, yes I did. I was just coming to say that diner will probably be ready in like 15 minutes or something…"

"I thought Ukitake and Granny had gone out for the night?" She questioned.

"Yeah, well I took the liberty of making something. Hope that's okay…" He said, not considering the fact that she might have already made plans. Oh no, that nervous thing was become overwhelming again, he tried to swallow it down.

"Oh, no! Of course not, that's so sweet of you!" She gushed.

Toshiro's hand flew to the back of his head nervously, as he made his way toward the door, "Yeah, so it'll be ready in like 15 more minutes or something… So I guess I'll see you then…"

"Okay!" She said cheerfully, as he exited the room. She sat down on her bed. Well that was sure awkward.

Her tongue fiddled with her molars once more, as a grin began to appear on her face. At least he wasn't mad at her, or avoiding her… Her face suddenly perked up into a full-blown smile, when she remembered his hands on her waist.

She suddenly felt herself blushing as she realized they would have to be close and touching if they were to be dancing, which they probably would since they were going to the dance together. Momo stretched as she got off the bed, her mind still resting on the thought.

Downstairs, Toshiro was finishing up the cooking. He took the pasta from the pot, and poured it through a strainer on the sink. He took out the pasta sauce, and parmesan cheese, and got down the bowls. He was just placing them down when Momo walked into the kitchen.

"Smells good!" She said cheerfully, as she walked over towards him.

He handed her a bowl, and then got one for himself, and they began to prepare their own pasta bowls.

Once the two had sat down at the counter they began eating. "Mmm," Momo said, "This is really good! Thanks, Toshiro!"

Between mouthfuls he answered, "It's no big deal."

"You know," Momo said, wiping her mouth on her napkin, "You're pretty awesome, Toshiro."

His heart fluttered, "Let's see if you still feel the same after the game on Thursday…"

"No, I'm sure you'll do fine" Momo responded brightly, "Even if you guys do loose, I don't think anyone would think any less of you. You've already done so much for the team."

"Ahh, stop saying such nice things, Hinamori…" Toshiro said absentmindedly, before he realized how weird that sounded. Anxious to downplay it he quickly said, "Hey let's put on some music." He dropped his fork suddenly, and quickly walked over to the radio, turning the knobs.

"Oh gosh. It's Anna Indiana. Her music is so bad." Momo said as she distorted her face disgustingly.

"Yeah, me too," Toshiro said, chuckling as he sat down, "But Taco Palace plays on this channel a lot too."

"Sweet," Momo said, as she slurped in some pasta, splattering some sauce on her face in the process. The two laughed as she wiped it off with her napkin.

When they finished, they cleaned up their dishes, and began putting things away. They were almost done when Momo suddenly set down what she was holding.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, "It's the new Taco Palace song!"

"Oh yeah!" Toshiro said as he placed some plates in the dishwasher.

"Ahh! I love this song!" Momo said as she started dancing along, in a silly, playful fashion.

Toshiro laughed lightly as he watched, then suddenly stopped, "You know what I've always wanted to do?" He asked slyly.

"Hmm?" Momo said as she stopped dancing and looked at him.

A sly grin appeared on Toshiro's face, as he quickly ran out of the room.

Momo stared for a minute, then quickly followed. What was this boy up to? She found him in the living room fiddling with the stereo. Then suddenly the Taco Palace song burst through the whole room. He then began pushing all the furniture in the room towards the walls, first the couch, then the armchairs, then he moved the coffee table, and finally he rolled up the carpet to the sides of one of the walls.

Momo looked on in curiosity, as he slowly cleared out the entire floor, so the room was just huge and practically empty, being the furniture was all pushed aside.

Then he took off his shoes, and ran and slid across the room, stopping right at her feet. He stood up and stretched out his hand to her, grinning like a mad man. Taco Palace still boomed loudly in the background.

"Care to dance?" He asked.

Her heart was pounding out of her chest now, and she found she was smiling out of control. She slowly willed herself to place her hand in his, and he suddenly dragged her out into the empty floor and spun her around a few times.

He grabbed her other hand and they swung around some more, dancing to the rhythm, laughing and just having fun together.

They began spinning around, around, and around, until both fell in opposite directions, laughing all the way down.

Couldn't things just stay like this forever?

--

I didn't know there were many people still reading this story! Well I have got a pretty solid direction going here, so I'll probably be updating faster… heh heh…. ____

Anyway. I had to have lots of Toshiro in this chapter to make for him not being in the last one.

And I'm sure you guys are still wondering what's up with Kira, but all shall be revealed soon! : O

Thanks for still reading! : )


	16. Shocking Developments

Momo laid down that night, a huge grin on her face. She and Toshiro had just had their own little dance fest in the living room. It was that part of him that made her heart flutter. He was nice, and fun, and caring, and just so, so perfect. She turned over under the covers, grinning. She was so relieved that he wasn't ignoring her anymore. Recently she had being feeling that things were getting more awkward between them, and that he had been avoiding her.

However she was certain now that he wasn't, and if he had been, he wasn't anymore, and she was real, real glad for that. She wasn't sure if she could take him ignoring her, being that she liked him so much.

After they were all worn out from dancing, they had pushed all the furniture back, so Granny and Ukitake wouldn't find out. They chatted for a bit, before deciding it was time for some desert. They managed to scavenge some graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate and had whipped up some s'mores in the toaster oven. They had actually been quite good.

Afterward Toshiro went upstairs to finish his homework, which he of course had procrastinated till the last minute that night. No surprises there. Momo had taken that time to just chill out, but shortly got ready for bed and called it an early night.

Now laying in her bed, she peeked up over the covers. Through the bathroom, she could see his door cracked open ajar, and a faint light barely peeking through reflecting on the mirrors.

If she hushed her breathing and was really quiet, she could hear him tapping his pencil anxiously, or scribbling down answers. Something about the underlying hints of his presence made her feel really content.

Falling back down into her pillow again, Momo shut her eyes and began to drift back into a sleep, dreaming about the upcoming week.

The next morning came too quickly for Toshiro. Groaning as he pulled himself out of bed he was reminded of the championship games. Oh god. He really just wanted to stay in bed. He turned over and pulled the pillow over his head, then suddenly heard noise in the bathroom; gargling and spitting to be exact.

He laughed to himself, realizing it was Momo brushing her teeth. He got out of bed, and pulled his shirt down straight and orderly as he walked towards the bathroom. He opened the door to find Momo standing there, all ready for the day. He grinned. That was like her.

"Good morning!" She said in her cheerful voice.

"Mmm," He sleepily groaned in response as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Ready for the game today?" She asked as she put the toothpaste back in its proper place.

Toshiro just grinned at her through his exhaustion, but even that still gave Momo all the answer she needed.

"Glad to hear it," She said playfully returning his sly grin, "See you downstairs."

She left the bathroom, and Toshiro leaned over the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. Admittedly, he hadn't really slept all that much. He kept thinking of the upcoming game, which led him to thinking about the finals, which lead him to think of the dance, which led him to thinking of Momo, and it was really just a big chain of thoughts, one leading to another, all night long.

Splashing water on his face, he ran both hands through his silver hair, sleepily moaning in the process. Just one more week. Just one more week.

After dressing, Toshiro headed downstairs and got some quick breakfast then he and Momo walked to school. The school day went by quickly, then half way through his last class, the soccer team was called out of class. He met up with Ichigo and the two changed and got on the bus together.

The game went well; they won 3-0. Toshiro scored twice, and Ichigo once. After the game finished, the whole team got back on the bus, where the coach gave them a pep-talk. Between that and their performance at that last game, the team was now feeling pretty confident, particularly Ichigo.

"Maaan. We are going to kill on Thursday," Ichigo said to Toshiro, as the two stripped their gear off their feet.

"Mm," Toshiro murmured questionably, "East High is pretty good. You guys lost last year 2-1."

"We didn't have you last year," Ichigo said, confidently.

"Whatever," Toshiro said, then changed the subject, "Is Rukia still going to the dance with you?"

"Yeah, why?" He asked.

"Wasn't sure if she'd wised up and rejected you," Toshiro said chuckling.

"Jerk," Ichigo threw his sock at his friend, but it was quickly thrown back.

"Oh gross," Toshiro said.

Ichigo sighed, pinching the bridge his nose, "Besides, we're not even going together like that."

"Whatever," Toshiro said, putting all his gear back into his bag, "I think your asking, or as I hear from Rangiku, your _demanding _her to go with you kind of means you guys are going 'like that'." Toshiro's voice dripped with mockery.

"What?!?" Ichigo said, "I didn't _demand_ her to go with me! I just asked if she would!"

Toshiro rolled his eyes, "Look. You really should make it clear to her that you _like_ like her. Unlike last year. Gosh. Worrying for weeks about asking her, then asking at the last minute under some excuse as you couldn't find a date, when we both know you could have asked almost any girl in the entire school." Ichigo scoffed, but Toshiro continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if she liked you back, by the way. I mean, she's gotta feel something if she's willing to go with you. I mean, I heard Abari asked her and she said no. And as much as I don't like Abari, he's got much more class than you."

Ichigo thought about what his friend said, ignoring the insults. Perhaps he had a point. As he contemplated this, the bus rolled to a slow stop.

Toshiro got off the bus with his friend. They were back at the school; it was about 7. After bidding goodbye to everyone, he started his walk home. He had barely reached his street when he saw a small figure sitting on the steps at his house.

Curious, he picked up the pace until he distinctly recognized the figure to be Momo.

"Oye!" He cried from where he was, "What are you doing?"

"I- I was waiting for you," She said, startled as she suddenly stood up.

He felt his heart skip a beat, was this good or bad? "Why?"

"What do you know about Gin Ichimaru?"

--

Right after she had gotten home from school, Momo immediately picked up her cell phone and hit speed dial number 5, Rukia.

Ever since that time at the mall, Momo had been dying to call Rukia and get the inside scoop on whoever this Gin guy was that was making the normally upbeat Rangiku so gloomy, and what was up with that cashier, Kira? Momo needed to get answers, and she knew just where to get them: Rukia. But of course she hadn't been able to do it during school because whenever they had any down time Rangiku had always been there.

So Momo had seized her first opportunity to call Rukia, and was now listening to the constant hum her phone played as she called Rukia.

"Hey, Momo!" Rukia's voice came over the phone.

"Hey, Rukia, are you at home yet?" Momo asked.

"Yeah I am. What's up?" Rukia said cheerfully.

"Well I was wondering if you'd fill me in on this Gin guy,"

"Oh," Rukia said, rather somberly, "All this is just what I've heard from Rangiku, because I didn't really know her back then. Anyway, he was an old friend of Rangiku's. He lived next door to her, across from where you live right now. He was really good friends with that guy we met at the mall, Izuru Kira. But he and Toshiro were never close at all. I don't think Toshiro ever liked him. He said he was sly and up to no good, and I guess he was right in the end…" Rukia seemed to stop, as if she was thinking.

However she quickly continued, "Anyway, he was a year older than her, and they went to different schools in their early years, but they both went to Parker high when they got to high school. I'm not really sure on the details but I think Gin was quite a bad friend to Rangiku and that guy Kira too, and he basically just started getting involved in some bad things,"

"Like what?" Momo asked.

"Like just the wrong crowd, I guess. They drank, smoke, and skipped school a lot," Rukia said, "He stopped hanging out with her almost all together, and she said it was during that time when she missed him so much that she realized she really liked him," She paused once again, "And I think she actually loved him. Anyway, the way she tells it is that one night she gets a phone call, and she picks it up and it's him, and he tells her he's outside of her house and she needs to come down immediately. The lived next door to each other, remember? So anyway, she goes outside, and finds him completely drunk, and then out of the blue he like kisses her and they start like making out in her front lawn."

"Huh," Momo said, it didn't really surprise her, but it was kind of a weird thought. Cell phone glued to her ear, Momo readjusted herself so she could see out the window, and she looked at Rangiku's house, and tried to picture the scene Rukia was laying out for her.

"Anyway, Rangiku really liked him," Rukia continued, "But nothing really changed between them after that first kiss except Gin would kiss and make out with her whenever he felt like it. Anyway, it was some day towards the end of the year last year, when he was a senior, that Rangiku's parent's had left town for a few days, and he came over. Apparently, their making out went a little 'farther' that night,"

"Farther?" Momo questioned.

"Those are Rangiku's words… not mine," Rukia clarified, than continued, "So the next morning, Rangiku wakes up and he's gone. She didn't really think much of it at the time, I mean, she was sad of course, but it was just like him to do that. But after a few days where she didn't hear from him at all, she went over to his house, and apparently he'd left. His dad told Rangiku that he'd packed his bags and moved out about a week ago."

"Before the thing with him and Rangiku?" Momo asked.

"Yeah, actually," Rukia said, "Apparently he'd been crashing at Kira's for a bit, but Rangiku asked him about it, and the night before his thing with Rangiku was the last time he saw Gin."

"So, he just took off, and no one's seen him since?"

"He was 18; his dad didn't really care about him, so no one went looking for him," Rukia answered curtly, "It's hard to believe. I'm pretty sure his dad got arrested for something shortly afterwards, and had to sell the house."

"Hmm," Momo said, pondering what she had just heard, "So how long has it been?"

"Um," Rukia said, trying to figure out exactly how long it had been, "It was about April, and now it's November, so about 8 months I guess?"

"That's really awful," Momo said.

"Yeah," Rukia said, "I didn't know Rangiku quite as well back then, but I could still tell how much he hurt her,"

"You know what," Momo said, "I want to talk to this guy,"

"W-what?" Rukia said, "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious!" Momo retorted, "Trust me on this, I think I have an idea…"

So that's how Momo found herself outside in the cold waiting for Toshiro, she had a plan, and she needed his help for it to work.

--

Yay! Momo was in the manga this week! : D

Just to clarify -not that it's not already apparent- this is going to be/is a quite lengthy story. I'm sorry if the pacing seems slow, but that's how I've written it to be! : D I hope it will be worth it in the end!

P.S. This is like an updating record for me. I'll try to keep it up!


	17. Pretending is Easier

"What do you know about Gin Ichimaru?" Momo asked confidently.

Tongue in cheek, Toshiro looked up at her solemnly, "It's cold," he responded, quick to avoid the question.

"I'm not," She said, despite her shivering making it apparent that she was.

"You are," He said calmly, than avoiding her gaze, he looked down at her feet and noticed something, "You're not wearing shoes."

"You're right," She said, twisting her toes awkwardly.

"Let's go inside," He said, walking past her, lightly grabbing her hand in the process. She felt a slight heat wave rise up her arm, despite the coldness of his fingers; she tried not to blush, determined not to give up her cause.

He let go of her once they reached the door, and he hastily put his key in the door and the two rushed inside. The warmth was delightfully pleasant to both of them.

Toshiro quickly headed upstairs to put away her stuff, blindly hoping perhaps she would drop it, or forget, or not even notice that he never answered his question.

Unfortunately for him, Momo wasn't so easily fooled. She followed him as he dumped his bag on his bedroom floor. Leaning up against the door frame she cleared her throat lightly, reminding him of her presence. Though it wasn't like he had forgotten anyway.

"What do you want to know?" He asked.

"I want to talk to him," She said, completely straightforward.

"Why?"

Momo thought, tongue in cheek, trying to deicide whether or not to share her plan with him. Finally she decided that it couldn't hurt.

"I want to help Rangiku," She said, "I want to convince him to talk to her. I think she really misses him."

Toshiro fought hard to not show his shock, Momo was quite determined, despite seeming so shy. But he guessed that was just one of the many reasons he liked her so much. She was so kind, always thinking of others. But Toshiro wasn't really sure she was on the right track this time.

"Look," Toshiro said, trying to discourage her, without seeming insensitive, but it was hard. He wasn't usually this self-conscious. However he continued, sounding as confident as he could, "Gin Ichimaru was a bad guy. Rangiku is better off without him."

"He couldn't have been that bad if Rangiku loved him," Momo retorted, quick to defend her intentions.

"How do you know she loved him?" Toshiro asked, the words feeling strange in his mouth. He wasn't typically the one to talk about love.

"I can tell," She said, faking confidence.

Suddenly curious, Toshiro felt another wave of uncharacteristic behavior overwhelm him, and asked her, "Have you ever been in love?"

Caught of guard by the question, Momo feared the shock showed in her face. "What?" She asked, unsure of what else to say.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want too," He said hastily, realizing what he had just said. Why was he so stupid around her?

"Well, Um," She said, fumbling over her words. Had she ever been _in love_ with anyone? No body she'd ever really liked had even come close, until him, the boy standing in front of her, asking her if she'd ever been in love. Going with her gut she answered, "I think so."

When Toshiro heard that, something felt weird inside of him, anxiety, and perhaps jealousy. He was so, so very tempted to ask more, but his greater conscious told him not to, and so he didn't press the subject, and turned back to the issue at hand.

"So you want to convince Ichimaru to get in touch with Matsumoto again, and you think I can help you?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah," She said, "I do. I think you know can help me find him."

He looked up at her, "Why would you think that?"

She came all the way into his room, "You're objective," she said walking closer to him, "And observant. You always know what's going on. You watch out for your friends, like you're trying to now. But I really think that Rangiku needs this. Please trust me."

His expression turned to one of questioning as he narrowed his eyes lightly, "Fine," He said, clearly reluctant to divulge, "About a month after he left, when it became excruciatingly clear that he wasn't coming back," He cringed with disgust, "I did… some research. I found him. He was working at some small convenience store on Broad Street. He was staying with the owner."

"Can you take me there?" Momo asked, excited that she finally got what she wanted.

Toshiro suddenly stood up angrily, "No way!" He objected quickly.

"W-what?" Momo asked, shocked by his reaction.

"It's a bad place, those guys are rough! You're not going."

"You're not the boss of me!" She said, raising herself to match his tense posture.

Toshiro suddenly calmed down; he didn't want to get on her bad side, "Look," He said, "You could get hurt if you went there," He suddenly realized how, protective he was being of her, and then quickly tried to cover it up, "Imagine how Ukitake would react if I let you get into trouble."

"Well I'm sorry Ukitake would be so angry at you!" She said, misinterpreting Toshiro's answer. She then proceeded to stomp out of the room.

"W-wait!" Toshiro said, quickly realizing his mistake. Goodness! He really stunk at this! Toshiro went after her, and grabbed her wrist before she got too far.

"Let go." She seethed at him.

"That's not what I meant," He said, staring at her intently, trying to catch her gaze as she refused to look at him. After several moments, she realized he wasn't going to let her go until she cooperated. So she did. She looked right into his eyes.

"If you won't take me I'll just go on my own," She told him.

"Please don't," He asked, but she continued staring in silence, until he reluctantly let go.

She quickly left without saying anything and went into her room, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Toshiro banged his head on the wall a few times. Why, _why_, did he have to be such an idiot?

In the other room, Momo tried to stifle a few small tears as she locked the bathroom door. She quickly changed and got in her bed. It'd be easier not to cry if she wasn't conscious.

Angry with himself, Toshiro walked downstairs and into the kitchen to get some food. He got some quick dinner, wondering to himself if Momo had eaten yet. He thought of her all the way through his meek dinner, and all the way up to his room again, than sat blankly on his bed thinking about her. It bugged him to have her upset with him. He quickly went to her door through the bathroom, to try to right things, but found that it was locked. He was completely shocked. She locked him out!

Then he stopped to think about it. Of course she didn't want him to go in there whenever he pleased. That'd be awkward. Frustrated, Toshiro decided to give up and just call it a night.

When Toshiro woke up the next morning, he was surprised to hear that Momo had already gone to school. Slightly annoyed, Toshiro grudgingly went to school alone, excruciatingly aware that she wasn't with him. He really hoped she wasn't mad.

When he got to school, he found that she wasn't in their normal spot. Strangely enough, he didn't see her at all that day until their first class together, and she didn't even say anything to him at all. At the end of the class she was gone so quickly that Toshiro didn't even get a chance to say two words to her. He was beginning to suspect that she was actually mad at him. His stomach wrenched at the thought. He didn't know how much longer he could take this. He decided he would confront her at lunch.

But of course, she was mysteriously absent at lunch. Toshiro was beginning to get pissed off. But he still had one more class with her, and he wasn't going to let her get away this time.

When he entered the classroom, Toshiro immediately drifted to his seat. Momo, who sat next to him, wasn't there, as expected. However, she came in right as the bell rang, and sat down without a glance at him.

"Momo," He whispered to her, as the teacher started the class, "Why are you mad?" Momo remained silent, and pretended to ignore him. "Oy!" He continued, "Don't ignore me. Hey! At least look at me!"

"Toshiro?" The teacher asked, "Something you'd like to share?"

Toshiro looked up at the teacher suddenly and answered a long, drawn out, "No."

"Than please listen," The teacher continued as she passed out a worksheet to every two people, "Please work on this in pairs, with the person next to you."

Toshiro's day suddenly got a lot better; he grinned as he looked at Momo. This was just his luck!

Sitting next to him, Momo groaned internally as she thought the exact same thing. She wasn't really mad at him, and hated having to act like such, but she didn't want him to talk her out of going to see Ichimaru. So, she had intentionally been avoiding him all day so that she wouldn't have to deal with it.

"Well, partner," Toshiro said sarcastically, "Want to divulge why you've been avoiding me all day?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Toshiro," She said curtly, narrowing her eyes as she enunciated each word, "Now can we just finish this worksheet?"

"Tell me you're not going to go," He said, staring into her eyes, completely serious.

"I'm not going to go," She answered, hastily.

Toshiro gave her a sarcastic look. She would be the one to make this difficult. "I don't believe that."

"That's your problem," She told him bitterly, "Now can we work?"

Toshiro reluctantly agreed. Despite his annoyance at their little _spat_, Toshiro was glad he finally got to talk to her. Arguing with her was still better than being without her.

The rest of the class period seemed pleasant enough, and by the end of it, they seemed to have forgotten about their disagreement. At the very end of class, Toshiro asked once more before he let her leave.

"Please," He told her, "You don't know Ichimaru. This is a bad idea. Don't go."

"Bye, Toshiro!" She said faking cheer and ignoring his last words. He cringed. Since he had practice after school, he wouldn't get another chance to reason with her. As he picked up his bag and headed to his last class, Toshiro mentally prayed to himself that she'd listen to him. But his subconscious told him that it wouldn't make any difference. Grudgingly, Toshiro made his way through the rest of the day, his thoughts constantly trapped elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Momo did the same. She'd already made up her mind. She had gone into school earlier that morning to talk to Rukia. They had decided to go to Momo's house after school to drop off their stuff and hang out for a bit, then go together to find the store. Momo didn't care if a certain _someone_ didn't approve. Honestly, she thought that Toshiro was being obsessive about it all. After all, it wasn't like she was going to be alone; she was going to be with Rukia! Besides, she was completely competent, and could take care of herself! Lost in her thoughts, Momo and Rukia were now headed off to the store, a scowl burnt upon Momo's usually smiling face.

"Are you okay, hun?" Rukia asked, concerned about Momo's expression.

Momo quickly snapped out of her daze, "Yeah, why?"

"You look upset," Rukia said, not convinced, "What were you thinking about?"

"Oh," Momo said slowly, "I was just thinking of Toshiro… I think we are in a fight…"

"Oh really?" Rukia asked, surprised, "Why?"

"Well," Momo said, slightly embarrassed about the situation now that she had to explain it aloud, "He doesn't think that I should go look for Ichimaru… He thinks it's a bad idea."

"Huh," Rukia responded, pondering, "Why?"

"Well…" Momo said, dragging out her words, "He just thinks that it's a rough crowd," however she quickly added, "Which is completely stupid. Besides, we can take care of ourselves!"

"Yeah," Rukia said, lacking enthusiasm. She clearly wasn't convinced. Momo was beginning to question whether or not this was a good idea, but Rukia didn't appear to be backing out, so there was no reason that she should! Besides, she knew how much this would mean to Rangiku, and if it was for Rangiku- she would just have to handle a few 'rough guys'. Momo bit her lip. Her personal 'pep-talk' wasn't really working. She began to feel herself getting stressed out, and in the back of her mind she heard a small voice saying _I told you so!_ It was angry, but caring at the same time. She knew it was Toshiro.

The arrived at the front of the store too quickly. It did look pretty… _rough._ It was dirty looking, and there were some very _mean _looking guys around the back doing some sort of exchange. If Momo didn't regret her decision before, she was beginning certainly regretting it now. Why did Toshiro have to be right? Momo was brought back to reality by a nudge on the shoulder from Rukia.

"We don't have to go in," She said, encouragingly. It was pretty apparent to Momo that Rukia was scared too. But Momo didn't come all this way for nothing, and she wasn't about to admit that Toshiro was right. Taking a deep breath, she headed forward, Rukia following close behind.

Momo reached for the door knob, when suddenly she heard the sound of bells and the door opened abruptly in her face. She stumbled backwards, but Rukia quickly caught her and set her upright.

Momo looked up to see who had opened the door. Before her stood a tall, stoic man, with dark skin and dark hair knotted into cornrows. Dark shades covered his eyes, but Momo still felt oddly… penetrated.

"Can I help you?" His cool voice came, calm, yet deadly.

Momo began to feel herself hyperventilating from fear. This wasn't good. "I- Um…"

"What is it? We're busy." The voice was becoming impatient.

Momo couldn't speak.

"I'm going to ask you to leave." He began to try to move Momo away from the door. Part of her wanted to oblige, but some insane part of her took over and attempted to struggle.

"N-no!" She said, "I need to see someone!"

"You're disturbing the peace, kid!" He said as he began to get more forceful, successfully pushing both Momo and Rukia back with ease.

"W-wait!" Momo cried as the man grabbed her wrists and started to drag her away, as Rukia attempted to pry him off her, shouting frightening strings of four letter words.

Momo's heart was racing faster than she had even felt possible. She was more scared then she had ever been in her life. She was overwhelmed by the urge to cry as she saw his face in her mind. _Don't go, please don't go… _He whispered to her as he drifted farther and farther away. A scream welded up in her throat, but she couldn't manage to get it out. Her gasps for air were beginning to become alarming, as the present became distant to her thoughts. In all her terror she could only imagine the way he had looked the last time she saw him. _Don't go._ She could now feel the tears on her face as she quietly answered him in her mind. _I'm sorry._

--

Woah. This chapter was a lot longer than usual. WELL. Sorry this took so long to get updated. It always takes longer when I get stuck about what to write. But no worries, I pretty much know the entire plot from here on, and it goes way beyond the dance! So for those of you enjoying this story, rejoice because it's going to be a lot longer! : D

Well, I wish you all a good holiday, and a Happy New Year!

P.S. Someone PM'd me, but I can't seem to figure out how to respond. -___- Sorry! Hope this chapter is a sufficient response!


	18. Narrowly Avoided

"W-wait!" Momo cried as the man grabbed her wrists and started to drag her away, as Rukia attempted to pry him off her, shouting frightening strings of four letter words.

Momo's heart was racing faster than she had even felt possible. She was more scared then she had ever been in her life. She was overwhelmed by the urge to cry as she saw his face in her mind. _Don't go, please don't go… _He whispered to her as he drifted farther and farther away. A scream welded up in her throat, but she couldn't manage to get it out. Her gasps for air were beginning to become alarming, as the present became distant to her thoughts. In all her terror she could only imagine the way he had looked the last time she saw him. _Don't go._ She could now feel the tears on her face as she quietly answered him in her mind. _I'm sorry._

Suddenly a cry from far away was heard, "HEY!" Momo's body felt instant relief, whether it was because she was suddenly let go, or because of the sound of his voice, she was unsure. However, at that moment it didn't really matter.

Momo regained her posture, as she saw Toshiro's quickly enlarging figure approach until he was right up on the man with the shades.

"Don't touch her," He warned, with ferocious intensity, "Now, is there a problem?"

The man hardly looked intimidated, even though he had backed off of the girls, "Look," He began, "These girls have no business here."

"We're here to see Ichimaru," Toshiro said, matching the man's tone. It was almost frightening.

"Too bad, kid,"

"Look Tousen," Toshiro said, shocking Momo. She wondered how he knew the man's name "I know what you are doing here, and if you want to keep doing it, you're going to let us see Ichimaru."

The man considered the threat, and must have decided that it was legit. Momo was surprised when he agreed.

"Wait here," He said, going back into the store, "I'll get him."

As soon as he was gone, Toshiro turned his attention back to Momo, and for the first time she noted his appearance. He had clearly come straight from practice. She saw his soccer bag laying a few yards away. He must have dropped it when he came to her rescue.

"What were you doing?" He scowled at her. He truly looked angry… at first. "H-hey," He said softly, "Don't cry…" Momo suddenly realized she was lightly crying still. She quickly wiped away the loose tears.

"I'm not!" She said, her voice sounding more confident than she felt. She was grateful that it hadn't cracked to give her away.

Toshiro gave her a look of disbelief but decided to pretend like he accepted her lie, "So are you guys okay?"

"Yeah," Rukia said, although she sounded a bit shaken. Beside her, Momo just nodded her head blindly.

"Look," Toshiro said, "Since I'm here now, just let me do all the talking, okay?" Both girls silently agreed, relieved that they wouldn't have to be confronting any one else.

However, whatever little relief they had felt was suddenly washed away, when the little bell sounded, alerting them to a new presence.

Momo's heart clenched up at the sight of the man who walked out. Blond hair fell lightly on his head, and a sly grin overwhelmed his face, to the point where his eyes looked like little slits. His presence was disturbing. Momo suddenly saw Toshiro's point of view in a new light, and questioned what Rangiku had seen in this man.

"Toshiro!" His falsely cheery voice came. It's anxious tone matched his appearance well. "It's been a while! What's up?"

Toshiro looked stoic and angry, "Look, here Ichimaru," He said with such fury, it seemed that words alone could not express it. The rage seemed to be constrained through his speech. "You know exactly what I think of you," Toshiro continued, as Ichimaru's grin faltered ever so slightly, "I think you're scum. I will never forgive you for what you did to Rangiku. And as much as I hate you…" Toshiro's resolve faltered, as his gaze briefly drifted to Momo, "Rangiku needs you. And you must some real awful dog if you don't go apologize to her. I don't give a damn if you don't love her or never loved her or hated her or whatever. But if you have any sort of pulse at all you'll make this right."

Ichimaru's smile fell each time Toshiro mentioned Rangiku, and after a moment of silence, he answered slowly and bitterly, "Kid, you don't know nothing about love. Ran's better off without me,"

"Oh," Toshiro said with a bitter laugh, "Oh, I agree, but it's not my decision. And it's not yours. I hope you know she's miserable without you," Ichimaru's face almost looked shocked beneath the sarcastic grin, and Toshiro continued, "Whatever. That's all I had to say." Toshiro turned away and picked up his bag. He grabbed Momo's hand, and quickly headed off, Rukia following right along side Momo. Neither dared look back, but Momo could just feel that man's stare on her back. She looked at Toshiro's enraged expression as he stared ahead. She longed to reach out and touch it with her free hand. She wanted to apologize for not listening, she wanted to thank him for coming, and she wanted to ask why he had said what he said to Ichimaru, despite previously disagreeing. But at that moment, just holding hands, and staring at his face was enough. In that moment of emotional turmoil, Momo found a great peace in him.

Toshiro wrenched his neck back as hot water over his tense body. He combed his hands through his hair and closed his eyes. What a day. It all started out with Momo ignoring him, then next thing he knows he's desperately running after her as soon as practice is over, blindly searching for her, convinced that she was in trouble. Of course she had was, but that feeling he'd felt when he thought something could have happened to her… It had driven him crazy… and then when he saw that man's hands on her… Oh man, he was about to loose it… and then when he saw her crying… it had felt like his heart was breaking. His hands moved down to his shoulders and he massaged them roughly. Then there were the things he'd said to Ichimaru… even though he'd only said them in the heat of the moment for Momo, he'd given it some serious thought. As much as he loathed Ichimaru, perhaps Momo was right. Regardless, Toshiro decided he had faith in her. He admired her morals and strong willed personality, even if it got her into trouble.

After saying goodbye to Rukia at her house, Toshiro and Momo had walked the rest of the way in silence. Toshiro had silently offered Momo his jacket, since the sun had long gone down. Momo accepted; she didn't want to take his jacket, but her freezing body wouldn't let her say no. Several minutes after this ordeal, Momo began to open her mouth to apologize, but Toshiro cut her off. He told her to forget about it, they had both been wrong. After confirming that neither was mad, the atmosphere lightened as both found some peace of mind. After getting home, Toshiro had immediately gone to shower, and now found himself second guessing almost everything he'd ever known in life. That was Momo for you.

He reached over to the shower knob, and turned the water off abruptly. He got out and began to get dressed, though his mind still wandered elsewhere…

Downstairs, Momo had decided to help Ukitake and Granny in the kitchen. She found it was relaxing, and really bringing down her nerves. They were such nice people, and it was a comforting environment. Ukitake was going on about his latest job endeavor, as Granny made all sorts of humorous remarks. The three were laughing heartily when Toshiro entered the room. He raised an eyebrow as he sat down at the counter casually.

"Evening, Toshiro!" Ukitake said cheerfully, "How was practice?"

"Dull," Toshiro responded, "So. What's cooking?"

"Tacos," Granny responded as she stirred a pot.

Once dinner was finished cooking, the four got plates and headed to the dinning room. They all were soon submerged in a light conversation.

"So, you ready for the big game on Thursday?" Granny asked Toshiro.

"We have to win tomorrow first," he responded.

"Of course you're going to win!" Granny said, "I wouldn't be coming out to the game if I thought you were going to lose!"

Toshiro chuckled, "Thanks, gran."

"There's no pressure of course," Ukitake reprimanded.

Toshiro raised his eyebrows quickly, as he continued eating.

"So," Ukitake said, smoothly changing the subject, "Who are you going to the dance with on Friday, Toshiro?"

Toshiro choked on his food slightly, as he reached for his glass to get it all down. When he looked up he saw the entire table staring at him. Ukitake and Granny with inquisitive stares, and Momo with a curious, yet slightly scared gaze. He cleared his throat then answered casually, "I actually going with Momo." He inspected her face for a reaction, but her face looked almost exactly the same. She was gauging the other's reactions. Toshiro turned his attention to them. They looked surprised and slightly concerned.

Toshiro decided to continue before things got awkward, "She agreed as a favor. You know I think this is all a real hassle."

Toshiro looked up at Momo, her lips were pursed as her fork played idly with her food. Ukitake and Granny seemed to accept this explanation.

"That's nice of you Momo," Ukitake said, "But you don't have to accept just to be polite,"

Toshiro's eyebrows narrowed. What was his uncle doing? His face still remaining impartial, he secretly prayed that she wouldn't back out. Even though she agreed earlier, he feared she might change her mind after the day's ordeals. He watched her face anxiously for an answer.

"No," Momo said, "I don't mind at all," She now had begun eating, as if they were discussing something as trivial as the weather.

Toshiro shifted uncomfortably at her response, but followed her actions.

Ukitake seemed to accept the situation and then moved the conversation onwards to other things, while the minds of both teenagers at the table lingered on the subject.

The next two days passed fairly quickly, as tensions rose amongst everyone as the day of the final championship arrived.

The day would have seemed like any other one, but everyone could feel the pressure and excitement. It was practically the only thing that anyone would talk about. Everyone was going, even the cranky teachers that no one liked. It was sure to be a good game.

After school, the team left to go practice until the game, and Momo, Rukia and Rangiku met up and went to Rangiku's house, where they chilled out, doing not really much of anything. Teacher had let off on the homework because the game was such a big deal. When the time came, the girls bundled up in excessive amounts of clothing, coats, scarves, and hats, and headed back to the school.

The stadium was fairly full when the got there, considering how early they were. The girls hustled their way to seats as close to the field as they could get, and then sat down in a huddle. The frost was already starting to make their fingers and toes freeze. As the time till the game drew more and more near, the cold continued to slowly penetrate their bodies, and they began to shiver. Momo tucked herself farther and farther into her jacket. Time passed slowly, and then suddenly loud cheering arose from the stands. Momo looked down at the field as her eyes searched for white. Then she found it. And as her eyes met with his, it suddenly wasn't cold anymore.

--

Gah.

I went to Mexico over break, and got sick. I puked 10 times, and I'm not even exaggerating. I couldn't keep food down for 5 days, and got really weak. I don't recommend drinking the water in Mexico. ____

p.s. I still can't figure out how the hell to reply to PMs. Can anyone help me out?


	19. Craze

Even though she was sitting outside on metal bleachers in the middle of winter as the sun slowly fell in the distance and cold winds blew harshly across her skin, she didn't feel cold at all. In fact, something inside her felt really warm. As their eyes met, a smug grin fell upon his face. He was going to win this for her.

Then the moment was over, and the two teams flooded out to the center of the field. In a matter of short moments, a pattern of players appeared on the field. Then the whistle was blown and the game began. It was very fast paced, the ball moved across the field like it was a game of ping pong. It moved up and down the field, but Momo wasn't really paying attention to the ball. Her attention, as I'm sure you easily guessed, was on a certain white haired forward. Toshiro's skill clearly overpowered most of the others on the field. His speed and agility was surprising. He dominated the field. His quick feet held possession of the ball, and his passes were sharp, crisp, and on target. It was really quite the sight. However even with all the talent on Parker High's team, the other team held their ground strong. Windex High, the champions from the previous year, was playing just as competitively and intelligently as Parker high. What seemed like a stalemate went on for the entire half. Equally matched, neither team managed to get a goal in. Windex High was beginning to slow down, as was most of Parker High, however Toshiro seemed like he was actually speeding up.

His head was lost in the game, and it showed. He was playing moves like it was second nature. Each pass was like a blink, and each shot like a breath. His concentration was so intense, he seemed ignorant even to the massive crowd surrounding the field. The trance was only broken when the half time whistle ran. Running his hands through his hair, he took a moment to enjoy the refreshing, cool air. His chest pulsed up and down, as his lungs worked hard to compensate. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins, and his feet itching to return to game. He inhaled, and then jogged back to where his team was resting. Grabbing his water bottle, he took huge gulps of the cold liquid, savoring the feeling. The coach's words meant nothing to him, as his senses took over. Words couldn't reach him where he was now. All he knew was the instinct to play, to win.

He felt silent rejoice when a team huddle signaled his body that it was time to get back on the field. Throwing his hand in the pile, his voice portrayed his excitement as they gave a cheer. Then finally giving into his will, he jogged back to the center circle, more eager now then ever to get that ball in the net.

Crouched down, ready to pounce, he looked into the eyes of the opponents. They were exhausted, he noticed as the whistle blew. There was a quick flick of a foot, and the adrenaline finally broke loose as the ball met his foot. The other team was tired. They were no longer in it for the win. That was why they were going to loose.

Then he was off, the cold air running across his face once again, it was a relief. He dodged the first opponent with ease, and then the next, and then another, his crazed confidence increasing with each step. The ball became an extension of his own self, and together they were perfect. They were unstoppable.

Adrenaline came to a peak as the goal came into sight. This was the best part. He nudged the ball away from himself for a final time, and then with all the power he could manage, he kicked the ball. He watched with pleasure as he saw the goalkeeper leap in a feeble attempt to stop the ball. When the ball met with the back of the net, he felt the impact inside his body. Insane pride and accomplishment grew inside his stomach. He'd scored goals before, but for some reason, this one was better than the rest. Perhaps it was just his crazed instinct feeling for him, regardless, he felt euphoric. His excitement burst out in a holler, as he jumped pumping his fists in the air.

Then suddenly his teammates were on him out of nowhere, cheering right along with him. It was then that he noticed the crowd, whose cheers had grown increasing louder. They were on their feet, jumping about, every bit as ecstatic looking as he was. He felt it was sufficient. The enthusiasm of the entire crowd was sufficient for how thrilled he felt at the moment. A whistle blew, signaling a restart. The team got back into formation.

He was soo ready to win this game.

Momo cheered enthusiastically. She was on her feet screaming and hollering. Rangiku and Rukia had to pull her back down on to her seat eventually. She was so excited. She loved watching Toshiro like that. It reminded her why she liked him so much. Of course, so did almost every other girl on the stands cheering as wildly as she, but she decided not to let the thought ruin the moment. Instead she rested her focus back on Toshiro, following his every action, feeling his every emotion through his movements.

The game continued on with everyone on the edge of their seats, however it became quickly apparent that Parker High was going to win. They remained on Windex High's side for the remainder of the half, continually pounding their defense, as the opponents grew weaker and slower. By the end of the game, Toshiro had scored two times more, and Ichigo had also gotten one in. When the final whistle blew, cheers erupted from the stadium, and Toshiro finally let out a strained exhale as the instinctual craze left his body. He joined the rest of the team in their cheering. As a team, the players shook hands with the opponents, and then proceeded to run a long victory lap around the perimeter of the field.

The craze died down as people slowly began to leave the stands. After a small team talk, the coach dismissed his players, and the boys all began to gather up their things.

Toshiro sat down on the cold grass to take off his shoes. He put them in his bag, and just as he was getting up, a heavy weight suddenly lurched itself onto his back.

"CAPITAN!" It cried, "You did so awesome!" Arms wrapped themselves around his middle, as he continued his attempts to stand up.

"Get off, Rangiku," He said in a voice that was meant to be surly, however his current excitement prevented him from sounding negative in the least.

Rangiku got off, and Toshiro stood up to see Momo. Suddenly he was enveloped in another embrace. However this one was a lot different. It was light, and cautious, but it still made him feel weak. She drew away quickly.

"Good game!" She complimented.

"Thanks," He said. Rangiku let out a small giggle at the sight of her two young friends, who were both clearly crushing on each other. A gruff yell suddenly diverted all their attention elsewhere, where Rukia was seemingly beating Ichigo up. They all laughed. That was just like them.

"Shiro!" A new, mature voice suddenly rang. Ukitake and Granny emerged from the stands, "Congratulations!"

"Good show!" Granny piped in, holding her hand up for a high five. Toshiro meekly obliged. "Now, put this on dear!" Granny held out a massive coat for Toshiro.

"I'm fine," Toshiro said. It was true, the cold air was actually extremely refreshing, considering how hot he felt after all that exercise.

"I won't have it!" Granny said, as she practically forced the jacket on him. Momo giggled as Toshiro grumbled.

"Alright, alright," Ukitake continued, "Let's go!"

After bidding goodbyes, the four left the stands and drove back to the house. The walk would have been much to long for Granny.

When they got home, Granny immediately got the idea in her head to make a special victory dinner. So together, the four of them spent the rest of the night in the kitchen. Once things finally got wound down, and the excitement began to wear off and Momo had finally laid her head down on the pillow, it all finally came back to her: Tomorrow she would be at the dance with Toshiro!

Her heart began to beat faster at the thought. She turned over in her bed with a smile on her face. Even though she was anxious and as nervous as hell- she could hardly wait.

School the next day was completely wild. The whole school was full of energy. Momo first noticed then when she and Toshiro were mobbed upon coming to school. People were congratulating Toshiro left and right. It was almost impossible to escape! It wasn't just Toshiro either! (Though he got the most attention by far!) Every time Momo got anywhere near any of the other players, she could be sure to find someone coming up to say 'Congrats!' or 'Good Game!' If it had been any other day, Momo probably would have found it annoying, but today, Momo could have possibly been the peppiest person on earth, asides from Rangiku of course.

Of course the reason Momo was in such a good mood (as well as practically the rest of the female student body) was because of what was coming up that evening. The fall sports dance was that night, and almost everyone was buzzing about it, especially Rangiku!

"MOMO!" She cried as she attacked Momo with a hug. Momo laughed as she squirmed her way out of the girls arms.

"Good morning to you, too!" She said cheerfully, as she saw Rukia approaching.

"Okay girls," Rangiku said, in her falsely superior voice, "You girls are both coming over to my house after school. You can pick up your dresses but that's it! We're all getting ready at my house! Especially you Momo! Can't have Toshiro see his little date getting ready!"

Momo blushed, but quickly managed to hide it; she was getting used to all the constant teasing.

"Glad we have a say," Rukia said sarcastically.

"Well I thought up the proposition," Rangiku said, her sarcasm matching her friend's, "But you guys weren't there. So I made an executive decision,"

Rukia made a face, which caused all three to erupt in laughter. At that moment the bell rang, and the girls all headed their separate ways to class.

Classes carried on as usual, but with a lighter mood. No homework was assigned, yet again! It was a miracle! After school, Momo met up with Toshiro and the two walked home. Momo went upstairs to dump her stuff and grab her dress, then told Granny she was leaving for Rangiku's. After a quick hug and a promise that she wouldn't get in to any trouble, Momo left Granny and walked across the street.

Rangiku ushered her inside and dragged her upstairs, where the state of Rangiku's room shocked Momo. Her room, which was usually littered in clothes and god knows what else, was now perfectly clean. The floor was totally spotless. Rangiku grinned at Momo's surprise.

"We're going to need the space for our prepping," She said, slyly.

Momo smiled back, "You're crazy, Ran."

"And that's why you love me, right?" At that moment the doorbell rang. "Must be Rukia! I'll go get it." Rangiku left the room to get the door.

Momo walked to Rangiku's window seat and peeked out to the house across the street- her house. She could see into her room, with completely open blinds. She liked having the sunlight enter her room.

Toshiro's blinds, on the other hand, were completely closed. They usually were. It kind of made her sad to think that he spent all his time in there, alone, with the blinds closed. She heard the soft steps of her friends coming up to the room. Stealing one last glance at his room, Momo silently resolved to do whatever it took to get him to open up those blinds, and perhaps even leave his door unlocked.

--

Haha. Soccer is like Toshiro's crack. But, yay! They won! How unpredictable!


	20. More than rather awkward

Momo blinked at her reflection. Then once more. She finally turned around and gave her 'friends' an unhappy glare. They burst out in laughter. That was the _last_ time she let those two do her makeup. She turned on the faucet and began washing the ridiculous looking makeup off her face.

"Nooo!" Rangiku pleaded through her laugher, "It's so gorgeous! Toshiro will love it!"

Momo wiped the water off her face with a nearby towel, and continued to glare. The three girls had all taken turns doing each other's makeup, and she had been last. Of course her stupid friends had made her look like a clown. She grabbed the makeup bag and began doing it herself, while her friends still couldn't contain their laughter. Finally she couldn't take it any longer, "Would you two cut it out already!?"

"You should have seen the look on your face, Momo!" Rukia said, catching her breath, "It was priceless!"

"Hmph!" Momo pouted as she put the small capsules of makeup back into the bag and stomped out of the bathroom.

"We're just playing, Momo," Rangiku said as she left the bathroom, only to be met in the face by a pillow.

Momo, the obvious culprit, stood there giggling, "That was pay back!"

Rangiku made a face as she internally debated whether or not to retaliate. She decided against it, in light of keeping her makeup in tact as much as possible. They were also a little behind schedule on their prepping. Another 'Ichigo and Rukia' crack from Rangiku had brought up a small, playful spat earlier.

"Okay," Rukia said as she emerged from the bathroom, having overcome her laughter, "Dress time!"

Rangiku bounced over to the closet where the dresses had been stored (anywhere else had been unsafe, as part of the 'battle zone'). Arms filled with fabric, she handed each girl their dress as if it were a lunch-time snack. She then pulled her own shirt over her head, and wriggled into her own dress. She pulled it down over her body, and tugged her jeans off from under it. It was a figure fitting dark red dress, and she looked _stunning_ in it.

"I still can't get over how great you look," Rukia said, admiring her friend, as she playfully struck poses for the two.

"Thank you, darling!" Rangiku joked, as they all laughed.

Rukia put her dress on next. Hers was black, and had sort of an urban, grunge look, with black lace. Rukia looked attractive, but still independent. She was sure to give Ichigo a run for his money! Momo giggled at the thought of Ichigo's reaction to Rukia in that dress. She made a mental note to be sure she watched.

Then it was Momo's turn. She shyly turned around as she pulled off her top and slipped her own small white dress on. She quickly pulled her jeans off from under the tulle. She turned around to see her friends grinning wildly.

"That dress was such a great pick!" Rangiku gushed, as she came over to her friend and began fiddling with her hair. She pulled it out from the bun it was in, and began to carefully rake a brush through it.

"We should curl her hair!" Rukia said to Rangiku.

"Yess!" Rangiku cheered, overly excited at the thought of prettying her friend up, "Momo, you are going to look _fiiiine!_" The three laughed.

Rukia and Rangiku did end up curling Momo's hair, and Rangiku was right: Momo did look _fiiiine_. Her brown hair, now curled, created a gorgeous volume that framed her face perfectly. Between her bare collarbone, and undeniable figure, she was completely attractive.

Rukia came up behind Momo, as she inspected herself in the mirror. "Wow, Momo!" She said, "Toshiro is one lucky guy!" She playfully nudged her friend with her elbow.

Momo giggled in response, "So is Ichigo!" She cheered. For once, her friend just smiled happily at the compliment, instead of denying that there was anything going on between her and Ichigo.

"Okay girls," Rangiku said, as she began a team huddle, "Toshiro and Ichigo should be here any minute now. We all look pretty smokin' if I do say so myself, and I do," They all laughed, "Okay, so. Remember the basics: don't pick your nose, don't snort…"

Rukia gave Rangiku a playful slap as she removed herself from the powwow.

"I just…" Rangiku faked teary eyes, and overly dramatized her emotions, "I can't believe my little girls are growing up!"

Rukia and Momo laughed as Rangiku broke into a fake fit of sobs, her motions overly exaggerated and hilarious.

At that moment the door bell rang. Rangiku suddenly got over her sadness, and quickly went to the door, blocking the other girls ways. She chuckled menacingly, "I just got an idea… Go hide on the balcony!"

Rukia and Momo exchanged looks, but obliged as Rangiku cheerfully hopped down the stairs. They heard the door open as Rangiku ushered the two boys in.

"You look nice, Matsumoto," Momo recognized Toshiro's voice.

"Why, thank you, Capitan!"

"Yeah, you do," Ichigo said, as Rangiku lead him and Toshiro into the views of the two girls hiding on the balcony. Momo flushed at the sight of Toshiro. He looked handsome… and…. official… looking….

"So where are Momo and Rukia?" Toshiro questioned, already suspicious of Rangiku, as he knew her all to well.

"Welll…" Rangiku said, slyly as she cleared her throat. She dramatically fixed her posture, and raised her arms towards the staircase, "Presenting… Rukia Kuchiki!"

Momo and Rukia exchanged startled looks. Then Momo made dramatic gestures for Rukia to go down the staircase. Rukia got up suddenly and then quickly headed towards the staircase. She couldn't help but smile at the ridiculousness of the situation as she dramatically headed down the stairs.

Momo giggled as she watched Ichigo's face. His usual scowl was gone, and instead a pleasant shock was on his face. He still looked dumbfounded by the time Rukia got to the bottom of the staircase.

"Woah… you look really, really, really…" He stammered on, fumbling for words, "Really… well… uh… like a girl.

She frowned, and her eyebrows crunched together. That was _not_ the compliment she'd been wanting. "What's that supposed to mean!?" She was quick to accuse.

Slight panic entered his face. Momo smiled happily. They made a good couple. Rangiku was quick to break up the spat as she cleared her throat and continued; "Now presenting… Momo Hinamori!"

Momo hastily got up from her crouched position on the floor, and walked carefully to the staircase, trying her hardest not to trip. As soon as she was in plain sight, her eyes met Toshiro's. So much for focusing on not tripping; she could hardly think about anything else but him. Her heart pounded loudly, as she felt her face flush. Her hand tightly gripped the side rail on the side as she descended. She finally reached the end after what seemed like hours.

Her eyes met his outstretched hand. She carefully took it. He smiled. She smiled back.

"You look amazing," He said. He sounded so genuine. She couldn't find the voice to respond, but her smile widened without her will.

"Now _that_ is how it should be done," Rangiku interjected, "Ichigo."

The scowl came back.

"Anyway," Rangiku said, as she began walking towards the door cheerily, "Let's go!"

The five made their way to the door, and Rangiku drove them all to the school, where the dance was being held in the gym. They hastily walked inside because of the cold. (Ichigo had to loan Rukia his jacket, because she forgot hers. His jacket was much too big for her. She looked so cute and small, Momo noticed.)

They could hear the music blasting from outside, and once they got inside it was extremely loud. People were everywhere, all dancing and having a good time. The group quickly lost Rangiku, who was immediately pulled away to dance. Momo laughed happily as she watched her friend disappear into the crowd. She then directed her attention to those still standing awkwardly in the entrance. Out of the four of them, not one was really into this sort of thing. Momo was too shy, Toshiro was too anti social, and neither Ichigo nor Rukia would be the first to admit they actually liked and wanted to dance with one another. So, the four stood awkwardly in the doorway for quite sometime. It was Ichigo who finally broke the silence.

"So," He said, hand idly scratching the back of his head, "Punch, anybody?"

"Suure," Rukia drew out the word.

"Please," Momo said politely, with a strained smile. She was too nervous too make a real one.

"I'll help…" Toshiro mumbled as he followed Ichigo's retreating figure.

"Okay," Rukia said as soon as they were out of ear-shot, "This is really awkward."

"I know!" Momo moaned unhappily.

"What should we do?" Rukia asked.

"I don't know," Momo said, "I've never really been to dances before."

"Ever?" Rukia questioned, surprised, "Not even at your old school?"

"Not really…" Momo admitted, "You have right? What was it like last year?"

Rukia was silent for a moment as she thought, than winced. "Violent," She finally answered.

Momo let out a small giggle. It was a good sign; she was finally beginning to relax. She could do this! It was only a dance after all. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She exhaled and opened her eyes to see Toshiro approaching. Her heart clenched. Maybe she couldn't do this…

"Uh," Toshiro handed her a cup of punch, "Here."

"Thanks," She carefully took the cup from him and sipped carefully. Her hands were shaking a bit, but she made sure not to spill anything on her white dress.

The group was quiet once more as they began to drink their punch. After the glasses were empty, they all stood around awkwardly again, now, with no excuse for the silence.

"Ichigo," Everyone looked up at Rukia's sudden remark, "Dance with me."

Three pairs of eyes went wide. Ichigo began to stammer, "W-what?"

Rukia's eyes narrowed angrily, "You asked me to go to the dance with you. Now, here we are, at the dance, but you haven't asked me to dance yet. I'm taking the liberty. So dance with me, you buffoon." She crossed her arms angrily.

He eyed her carefully, before extending his hand out to her, "Fine."

Rukia put her hand in his, and lead him out to the dance floor. Momo watched, conflicted. On one hand, she felt like she was invading on a private moment between her two friends, but on the other, she wanted to watch Rukia as an example, because Momo was nervous as hell and had no clue what to do.

Rukia placed her hands on Ichigo's shoulders, and starting dancing to the upbeat song. Ichigo looked pretty awkward and nervous at first, but soon the two looked like naturals. Although, it was a little weird to see the two of them not engaged in some sort of fight. She looked on wistfully. She wished she could be that easy going with Toshiro.

Suddenly she felt a warm presence sneak up on her from behind. It was Toshiro. He was watching too.

"So," He dragged out. He didn't finish the sentence. Curious, she turned around to look at him, and saw he was extending his hand out to her. He looked up at her expectantly. She couldn't help but grin. She felt happy. She placed her hand in his, as she had many times before. But, for some reason, this time felt a little different. Perhaps it was because her body temperature was risen waaay above what it should have been. Or perhaps it was because he looked even more handsome looking in his pristine black tuxedo. Or perhaps it was because she felt like one of the beautiful princesses in a fairy tale. Or perhaps it didn't even matter. Perhaps all that mattered was the moment. So she savored it.

--

Whoo. The dance has finally started! Hey, do any of you watch American Idol? I usually don't. But, I decided to this season. A lot of talent they got on that show!


	21. An Unexpected Proposal

Her heart pounded ferociously in her chest, as he led her, hand in hand, out into the middle of the dance floor. Its pace only accelerated. The walk was too short, and soon she found herself standing with him amongst crowds of dancing people. Then the music suddenly ended, and a new song started, the new Taco Palace song. A grin grew on his face, as he intertwined his hands with hers. Suddenly, it was just like that night in the living room, when he'd pushed all the furniture aside and they'd just danced together.

Adrenaline started pumping, and the two started dancing as if no one was watching, because no one else in that room mattered, anyway. No one mattered but the two of them. Time began passing quickly, as the two swirled around the room. Lights flashed, and music flared, but the only thing Momo could think about was the face in front of her. It was the Toshiro no one else usually saw: the happy one, who didn't keep up a barrier all the time, the one who was nice, and sweet, and caring, and awesome… her Toshiro.

They danced for what seemed like forever, completely oblivious to their surroundings, until Ichigo came up to Toshiro from behind.

"Hey, man," he said in an urgent tone, trying to make his voice heard above the music, "It's about time."

"Alright," Toshiro wasn't pleased about having his time with Momo interrupted, but he knew the coach would kill him if he didn't show up for the big team announcement ordeal, so he reluctantly left his date with her friend, "Duty calls."

Momo nodded, understanding. She watched him leave until she could no longer distinguish him amongst the crowd.

"That looked like it was going well!" Rukia chimed. She lightly elbowed her friend, and Momo looked up to see her friend's huge grin.

"Yeah!" Momo said, she couldn't help but smiling in response, "You certainly seem happy! How was it?"

"Well!" Rukia said, "I'm certainly glad I wore heels. That buffoon is so tall, I wouldn't have even been able to dance with him without them!" Momo smiled. Rukia was having a great time too, she could tell.

The current song winded down, and the two girls spotted the athletic director taking the mike from the DJ up on the raised stage.

"Hello?" He spoke into the mike carefully, checking to see if it was on. It was. A quick high pitched squeal raced through the room, but the DJ quickly adjusted the volume.

The director spoke again, tentatively, "Hello?" His voice echoed through the gym. He cleared his throat, away from the mike, than spoke clearly and confidently.

"Parker High! How are you?" The crowd met him with cheers, "Awesome! Well, as well all know, this fall dance is to honor the fall sports teams. So first we have Cross Country!" The small Cross Country team came up to the stage and stood awkwardly in a line. Momo noticed both Uryu Ishida, and Orihime Inoue. They looked nice, she thought. Orihime looked cute.

The announcer quickly called the names of each member, and gave a small certificate. A few other teams got their moment of glory before the coach finally began the moment everyone had really been waiting for, "Now," He spoke, a prideful grin creeping across his face, "The champions, Parker High's Varsity Men's Soccer Team!"

The boys, clad in black, bounced onto the stage enthusiastically. The entire school burst out into loud cheering. It was an amazing sight. Momo watched the team's faces as she saw uncontrollable smiles erupt on their faces. Even Toshiro looked extremely pleased.

The director called out each person's name, ending on Toshiro, who got the most applause by far. It was thundering. One couldn't even hear one's own thoughts. Momo didn't notice how loud it was though, for she was far to caught up in her own ecstatic cheering. Looking on, Rangiku and Rukia couldn't help but laugh at their friend.

Then the director finally brought an end to the cheering and continued speaking, "Now, please clear the floor for a special dance for our champions!" More cheering ensued as he reemphasized 'champions'. Momo, however, wasn't included in the cheering. She was surprised as she saw her classmates all make way on the floor for the team who was coming off the stage. Was she expected to dance with him in front of the whole school? She couldn't do that! She was the girl who stayed out of the spotlight, not the girl who danced with the most popular guy in school in front of the entire student body!

Sensing her friend's mild terror, Rukia grabbed Momo's arm, and gave her much-needed help getting onto the dance floor. Rukia let go as she found her way towards Ichigo, who looked pretty pleased to see her. Meanwhile, Momo stood frozen on the floor as music started. Everyone was staring at her, probably wondering what she was doing alone, she figured. She must have looked pretty silly. Where was Toshiro?! This was stupid! She began to retreat out of the limelight and back into the crowd, but she suddenly felt a hand around hers and she turned around. And there he was.

He was grinning at her, looking happier than she had ever thought possible. He pulled her in close, and she obliged. He intimately wrapped his arms around her waist, and they danced. It was a slow song, but her heart was upbeat. She had probably never felt so nervous before, but at the same time, she had probably never felt so happy or complete. And so she just enjoyed the moment, ignoring whatever nerves were surfacing in her body. Her arms found their way around his neck, and she could feel how hot his body was. From they way she felt at the moment, she could guess hers was equally heated.

Time suddenly didn't exist. The only things that existed were the two teens, the music to which they moved, and their hearts, beating fast, steady, and as one. She never could guess exactly how long they spent dancing in the limelight at that time, because as others began to join the dance, and the spotlight faded, she remained completely wrapped up in her partner, metaphorically and physically. All consciousness of anyone else had slipped away the moment she met his eyes. And she liked it. It was in that moment that something in heart told her that this was it. This was the one and only person she could ever give her heart to. This was the person she was completely in love with. And nothing would ever compare that feeling.

These thoughts in mind, she felt her face getting closer to his. She couldn't tell who was moving, him or her, but she could tell the distance between them was shrinking. She'd secretly imagined this moment lots of times. She had fantasized about their first kiss in many different places, and different ways. Usually, he was the one to kiss her first, but occasionally she initiated it. After it started, she could never really imagine what it would be like, with her lack of experience. However, she always hoped that one day she would find out.

She felt his nose against hers and could feel his slow, steady breathing on her face. He got closer and closer, and then she felt his lips with her own, barely touching, light and tentative. Then suddenly they were gone. Her eyes, which she hadn't even realized were shut, blinked open and she saw the back of Toshiro's head. She frowned, disappointment ran through her, followed by embarrassment and confusion. Had he just kissed her? Or had she just kissed him? Why did he jerk away? Her thoughts suddenly changed direction when she realized what was happening.

She saw Izuru Kira, the blonde fellow from the mall, with his hands on Toshiro's shoulders. He looked panicked. He must have jerked Toshiro away, by the looks of it.

Momo then heard Toshiro's voice over the loud music. (Had that really been playing the whole time? She hadn't noticed how distracting it was until now.)

"Calm down!" He told the taller boy as he brushed the hands off of him, "What's wrong?"

"It's Ichimaru…" Izuru said. Momo's heart clenched up. The name brought back the memories of the other day. That man's presence was terrifying.

"What about him?" Toshiro said. Just the name had been enough to make him angry.

"He's here," Izuru said, looking completely freaked out.

Momo watched as Toshiro's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed angrily, "That dirty piece of scum. What's he doing here?"

Then something suddenly occurred to Momo. Rangiku: the whole reason for that awful incident of before. Rangiku was in love with that man, and Momo (well, Toshiro really) had reminded him of that. And, as much as Momo hated it, it seemed to her like that man, as cold hearted as he appeared, loved her too. Was that why he had come to the dance tonight?

"Where's Rangiku?" Momo voiced up, as Izuru noticed her presence. Toshiro scowled.

Then suddenly a loud shriek erupted from nearby, as a commotion started. Toshiro made his way in that direction, with Momo's hand in his, as she followed close behind.

Toshiro suddenly broke through the crowd, making way for Momo, and there were the two people they had been looking for, together. Ichimaru had his hands around Rangiku's. It was difficult to tell if it was a loving gesture, or a forcefully gesture. Her eyes gave away nothing, for her all that was displayed in them was shock. Over the music Momo heard Rangiku ask, "What?" in a whisper.

They looked on as Ichimaru wrapped his arms around her and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes grew narrow and her expression somber. Neither of the two moved for a long moment, as Rangiku appeared to be in deep thought, then suddenly she pushed him off of her, though he clearly had allowed her to do so.

She looked angry and hurt, "You can't do this to me," She said, emotion leaking in her voice, "Why do you do this to me?" He reached out to take her hand, but she jerked away before he could. She turned on her heel, and headed out with haste. He didn't follow, but instead scowled at the onlookers.

After verifying that the terrifying man wasn't following her friend, Momo took off after Rangiku. She could feel Toshiro's hand clenching into a fist as she let go of it, but she hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. She _really_ hoped…

Momo felt the cold air once again as she left the warmth of the gym to find her friend. There she was, sitting on a bench, her elbows perched on her knees, her face looking eerily void of expression. Momo slowed down and cautiously sat down beside her.

"Hey," She said weakly.

Rangiku responded without looking up, "Hey."

"What was that about?" Momo tried.

Rangiku's face twisted awkwardly. She was silent before speaking, "I'm sure Rukia told you about him, right? Gin Ichimaru?"

Momo nodded, "Yeah." She felt embarrassed for knowing. It was almost like she was gossiping about Rangiku behind her back or something. But deep down she knew it wasn't, she had only made it her business because she cared about Rangiku. Just like she was doing now.

"Right well," Rangiku said, still eerily expressionless, "This is the first time I've seen him in months. A half a year really..."

"I know," Momo said, trying to encourage her friend to continue talking. She wasn't sure if it was working though. As nice as she was, she always felt as though she was bad at this sort of thing.

"So," Rangiku continued, her voice becoming more heated. She was finally showing emotion, although Momo wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. Her friend continued over her thoughts, "He just showed up here tonight… and he… asked me… to marry him."

--

LOLWHUT!??! I know that's what you're thinking. ;D

Anywayy, now I kind of wish I'd come up with a better band name than 'Taco Palace' considering how much I actually mention it. __

Know what else? I had initially referred to the opposing high school soccer team as 'East High' or something, but than I couldn't remember and instead wrote 'Windex High' as a placeholder. I forgot to change it like two chapters ago, as you probably noticed. Oops! __

Soooo. My initial plan was to have another 'arc' (if you will) after the dance, but seeing as how my updating is really slow, I'm not so sure if it would be best to end it sooner rather than later…? What do you guys think?


	22. Sudden Departure

_We left off with Rangiku revealing to Momo what Gin Ichimaru wanted when he came to the school dance unannounced. Now the story continues! (lol I like cheese.)_

"So," Rangiku continued, her voice becoming more heated. She was finally showing emotion, although Momo wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. Her friend continued over her thoughts, "He just showed up here tonight… and he… asked me… to marry him."

"S-serious?!" Momo's shocked voice staggered out in a whisper. The thought of her friend married at all was strange beyond belief, but married to _that_ man!? She couldn't picture _that_ at all.

"Yeah," Rangiku responded weakly, her mind clearly somewhere else.

"Wow," Momo said, racking her brain for something to say. What did one say in this sort of situation? "Are you surprised?"

Her friend was silent, pondering the question, "I was at first, but it is like him… always leaving me, and then coming back suddenly and asking crazy things of me. Using me, and hurting me… but…" She was silent for awhile, her voice remained clear and strong, "I still love him."

Momo thought about her friend's words. She had been right after all, about Rangiku loving him despite it all. She admired her friend for it, she knew it must be hard, but at the same time, she was jealous. In the back of her mind, her thoughts temporarily drifted to Toshiro. Could she love him so unconditionally as Rangiku did Gin? But, the thoughts were not relevant at the time, and she pushed them away as she focused on the current moment.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, carefully.

Her friend shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Do you want to marry him?"

Her expression didn't change, and after a short silence, she responded, "Maybe."

The answer shocked Momo. She would have thought the answer would be no, but then again… what was wrong with it? If they loved each other enough, than why should they be married? The two girls were both lost in thought, and had nothing left to say. After a long time had passed, the brisk cold suddenly became a priority in their minds. The two went inside, and their heat of the gym came as a relief to their bodies. But after their minds registered the change in temperature, they noticed another change in setting. The gym was filled with a loud commotion.

Suddenly Izuru came up to the girls, "You guys have to come!" He ran off toward the center of the crowd, pushing the way through for the girls. There, Momo's blood suddenly ran cold. She saw Toshiro, with blood running down from his lip, fighting Gin Ichimaru. She immediately went into panic mode, and started freaking out, until she took a more careful look, and noticed that Toshiro was holding his own quite well against Ichimaru, despite being completely out matched in size. He threw punches at his older opponent, while they were tangled up in a knot of angry limbs.

Rangiku, having come to her senses quite quickly after the initial shock, had run straight towards the two most important boys in her life, and tried to break up their fight. She wrapped herself around Ichimaru's waist and tried to tug him away from Toshiro. It was then that Momo finally got a good look at Toshiro's face, and she was terrified by the expression. She had seen it before during their previous encounter with Ichimaru, but now it was even more heated, and the blood from his lip wasn't helping his image too much. The sight had sent Momo into a strange state. This was not Toshiro, and she felt the need to stop whoever it was, and get _her_ Toshiro back. She followed Rangiku's example and lunged herself into the fight. Rangiku could use some help. Her struggles with Ichimaru were only in vain.

Momo began pulling on Toshiro's arm, and he jerked around to look at her. Momo was shocked at the angry expression he was directing at her, but then suddenly his expression softened as he saw how scared she looked. He was about to stop fighting when suddenly Ichigo broke through and stood between the two.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled at Toshiro.

Toshiro glared him down, wiping the blood from his face. Then he suddenly stormed out of the room, without looking at anyone. Rukia suddenly came up to Momo, "You okay!?' She asked frantically.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She said, her thoughts still dwelling on Toshiro. Then her friend recognized Ichimaru.

"Oh my god," Rukia said.

Momo then looked up to see Ichimaru, scowling, looking pissed off and violent. He quickly stormed out just as Toshiro had done. Rangiku didn't follow, but instead came over to stand with her friends.

She was silent for a while, but then suddenly spoke up, "Let's go home."

Her friends nodded. So they left.

--

Toshiro had made a point of not being seen by his grandmother and uncle when he got home. He had even asked Momo not to say anything. She nodded weakly in response. She seemed scared of him. He cursed his actions in response. He hadn't meant too start that fight. But somehow he had.

He was just angry and frustrated, and started vocalizing his anger to Ichimaru, next thing he knew, he had a fist in his face, and then it was on. Something had snapped, and suddenly his instincts had taken over.

He turned over in his bed and buried his face in the pillow. Crap. He'd really screwed up. He was going to be in so much trouble… He'd escaped the heat from his uncle for now, but he was in for it tomorrow morning. There was no way to hide the bruises on his body, or the huge cut by his lip. Speaking of lips…

He suddenly remembered what else had taken place that night for the first time since it happened. He and Momo had kissed! Sort of… maybe? Did that count? He groaned into the pillow. What a night this had turned out to be… He sighed as he rolled over again. He wasn't going to be able to sleep...

Two doors down, someone else was as preoccupied as he was. Momo's thoughts remained on the events of the evening. She couldn't sleep either. Suddenly her phone rang loudly through the silent night. She quickly answered, and hoped no one had heard the commotion.

"Hello?" Momo said, alert and awake as ever.

"Momo? You're awake?" Rangiku asked surprised, "It's two in the morning!"

"Couldn't sleep," Momo answered quickly, trying to turn the subject back to her friend, who now seemed extremely happy, "So what's up?"

"I talked to Gin," She said softly. Something in Momo shivered at the name, but Rangiku continued happily, oblivious to her friend's distaste, "He told me what you and Toshiro did." Momo's whole body froze. She quickly tried to defend herself.

"Rangiku, I-" Momo was cut off by Rangiku's laughter.

"Thank you," She said whole heartedly, "Really, thanks."

Momo was shocked, she couldn't find words, "S-sure," was all she could get out.

"Anyway, I called to tell you that I'm leaving," Shock ran through Momo's body.

"W-what?"

"I'm going off with Gin. Winter break is soon, so I won't be missing much. I'll be back when school starts up again next year," Rangiku sounded extremely happy.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously," Rangiku playfully chided her friend, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I really want this, so please understand."

Momo was silent, but then spoke honest words, "I understand," She felt a lump rise in her throat, "Good luck, I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Rangiku said, "Maybe when I come back, you and Toshiro will finally be a thing, hmm?"

Momo laughed sadly at her friend's attempt at a joke. Normally she wouldn't, but she was happy to see her friend back to her normal self.

"Hey, go out onto the balcony," Rangiku said.

Momo obliged, she stepped out into the cold with only her pajamas on and looked across the street. Rangiku sat in the window sill waving at her friend. She was completely dressed and had a duffel bag in hand.

"Don't worry about me," She said earnestly, upon seeing the tears start on her friend's face, "Tell Toshiro that too, and tell him thanks, and tell him I love him, and give him a kiss for me!"

Momo choked out a laugh behind tears, why was she crying? She was happy for Rangiku. Perhaps, that was why… Maybe it was like watching a happy ending to a romantic movie.

"You're a great friend, hun," Rangiku said, her motherly voice coming out, "I love you, tell Rukia I love her too, and give her a big hug for me. I'll miss you guys so much!"

Momo nodded, at her friend from across the street, unable to speak through her tears.

"Bye," Rangiku said softly as she hung up the phone. Momo held the phone to her ear a bit longer, as she watched her friend retreat back inside with a small wave and smile. Momo took the phone away from her head and clutched it in her hand, as if it were all she had left in the world. She slowly inched down the wall, until she was sitting.

The cold air now felt refreshing as opposed to harsh, and a chill ran down her spine from the way the wind brushed her wet cheeks. She wiped the tears away as she watched Rangiku leave her house. She didn't notice her friend sitting there as she got into a beat down looking car and drove away, but someone else did.

Momo looked up with a start as she heard a door open to her left. It was Toshiro, he looked a mess, like he had just woken up.

"Sorry," She said, "Did I wake you?"

He sat down beside her then responded curtly, "No."

The were both silent for awhile. Momo took comfort in his presence. Any awkwardness that would have normally existed was gone because at this one moment, her thoughts lay only with Rangiku.

"Is she coming back?" Toshiro asked, revealing that he had seen the whole thing.

Momo silently answered, "Yes."

Toshiro looked over to her, and upon seeing her upset face, put his arm around her and pulled her in close, "Come here," He said, his voice comforting her. She moved into him, and started crying lightly into his chest. She felt weak and embarrassed, but at the same time, she felt like she couldn't help it. He put his arms around her back and put his chin on the top of her head.

While Momo's thoughts remained with Rangiku, his lay with the girl crying on his shoulder, in the middle of December at 2 AM in the morning. He thought to himself that he had never loved her as much as he did at that moment. And that he would forever. Even if she started hating him, he'd love her forever.

--

Toshiro groaned inwardly when he heard his Uncle's harsh voice calling him out of his sleep. A loud knocking at the door only added to his agony.

"What's the problem?" He said, although he knew full well what the problem was.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya, you know full well what the problem is!" Toshiro scoffed despite himself. He knew his uncle all to well.

Toshiro sat up, right as his uncle burst into the room.

"OH MY!" His uncle exclaimed, as he looked at his nephew's face. Oh crap. He'd forgotten about his face. He touched it carefully. It was bigger than he remembered. It must have swelled. He winced. It hurt.

He got up and went to the bathroom to look in the mirror, ignoring his uncle's yelling. Woah! It had gotten bigger! His jaw was swollen, and was an unnerving shade of purple. Not very attractive. He frowned, then turned his attention back to his fuming Uncle.

"How could you get into a fight and you know-" Toshiro cut him off angrily.

"Yeah, yeah! I know, I know!" He responded, heatedly.

"Did you know you've been suspended for a week?!" His Uncle came back harshly.

"What!?" Toshiro yelled. Aww man. That was ridiculous! Then again… it had been a pretty bad fight. He cursed himself again. He really needed to learn how to control his temper…

--

'o'

Rangiku just keeps pulling the shockers, huh?

Thanks for readinnggg : )


	23. Potatoes

After hearing about Toshiro's suspension that morning, Ukitake was furious all day. But by the evening, he had chilled out quite a bit. Toshiro suspected he owed that relief to Momo. She had probably spilled the details to his uncle. His granny had been pretty relaxed about the whole situation in general. He had a feeling that she thought that Ichimaru had gotten what he deserved. She wasn't exactly your normal grandmother. He sighed as he took another bite of potatoes.

"So," Ukitake said, "Guess whom I got a call from last night!"

"Who?" Toshiro asked, clearly uninterested. But Ukitake wasn't going to accept that lame response. He planned on milking this secret for as long as he could. It wasn't often that he got an opportunity like this!

"Well," He continued, "I was going to tell you sooner, but of course… well look at your face…"

Toshiro's eyes narrowed, he didn't need a reminder. Across the table however, Granny giggled. He looked up at her, a disapproving look on his features. Momo only giggled at his response, so he gave up and returned to the potatoes.

"So, who was it Jushiro?" Granny said, redirecting her attention to her son.

"Well, as we all know, Toshiro's birthday is in two weeks and-"

"What?" Momo interjected, "Really?"

Ukitake and Granny nodded in response.

"How come you didn't say anything?" She asked the boy sitting beside her. But he didn't answer; he instead pretended to be absorbed with interest in his potatoes.

She pouted, and Granny took the initiative to answer for her silent grandson, "He's not a big fan of birthdays," she said laughing a bit.

"Eh?" Momo cried, "Why not?"

"Well it being so close to Christmas and all, it tended to get overlooked anyway," Ukitake said, sadly, "But, we always have had a celebration here for Toshiro, just like we will do this year," He smiled as he realized he had an opportunity to let the cat out of the bag, "And Toshiro's brother called last night, and said he'd join us!"

At this point, Toshiro suddenly choked on his potatoes, and the rest of the table was silent as they directed their attention to the boy. A moment later, when he was done coughing he looked up calmly, "What?"

"Your brother is coming up for your birthday, and staying through new years!" Ukitake said cheerfully, ignoring his nephew's outburst, "Isn't that great?"

The boy wiped his mouth calmly, and then slowly said, "Sure."

Momo was about to inquire further, when Ukitake spoke again.

"Of course," He continued, "Momo's family is coming up for Christmas a few days later. They're arriving on the 23rd, so we'll have a full house! How exciting!" Ukitake gushed about how excited he was for the following weeks. After dinner, Ukitake and Granny insisted on cleaning up without help, shooing Momo off to her room.

She had actually been avoiding downtime all day, because she knew she owed Rukia a call. She was unsure of whether or not Rukia knew about Rangiku's circumstances. If she didn't, Momo wasn't exactly keen on the idea of being the one to tell her. But, Momo knew she had to do what she had to do. So she picked up the phone.

"Hello," came Rukia's cheerful voice from the phone.

"Hey, Rukia."

"Oh, hey, Momo," Rukia said, "What's up?"

"Have you talked to Rangiku since…?" Momo trailed off, unsure of what point in time she wanted to reference, but Rukia cut her off.

"Yeah," Rukia said, knowingly, "She called me before she called you. I know she left."

Relief flooded through Momo, "Okay, good."

"I'm happy for her," Rukia sounded pensive.

"I think," Momo said thoughtfully, "That I am too."

"So, how are you?" Rukia asked her friend.

"Fine…"

"And Toshiro?"

"Suspended, oh, and his jaw is swollen."

Rukia laughed. The girls carried on their conversation late into the night, and eventually hung up and went to bed. The call put things in perspective for Momo. She realized that she could live without Rangiku for a few weeks, because Rukia was still one of her best friends. With a new positive outlook, Momo slept peacefully for the first time in days.

--

The next Monday came all too quickly. As much as Momo was _not_ looking forward to returning to school after the events that previous Friday at the dance, her aversion only grew once she realized she would have to go in by herself. She had been sitting at the table eating, wondering when Toshiro would come down, when she realized he wouldn't be coming down. He was suspended. Then she remembered Rangiku wasn't going to school either, and she literally groaned out loud. At this point Ukitake had put down his paper and asked what was wrong, but Momo quickly denied that anything was wrong and quietly went off to school.

She had forgotten how long this walk was when one was alone. She tucked her arms in farther to her coat. Winter was coming up quick; the cold weather pierced her skin every time she went outside. Momo had never really been one for winter weather; she much preferred the spring. However, Toshiro was quite the opposite. He loved winter, and being around him made her like it more. On this occasion however, he was not there, and so she silently cursed stupid Jack Frost.

"Oi!" Momo heard a voice behind her, and she turned around to see a tall boy with orange hair bounding towards her.

"Hey!" He panted as he finally caught up to her.

"Hello," She said.

"You alone?" He asked as he regained his towering stance over her.

"Yeah," She said, surprised that he didn't know, "Toshiro's suspended for the next week."

"Ouch!" He said laughing heartily, "Well, that's what he gets for making such a huge scene on Friday! So where's Rangiku? Doesn't she live near you?"

Momo winced, she should have been expecting this question, "Well," She said thoughtfully. How to phrase it? Rangiku ran away? No, that didn't sound right. Rangiku will be absent for a while? No, that would require further explanation. I don't know? Tempting, but no one would buy that for a month. "She's… Well… On Friday…"

"Don't tell me she ran off with Ichimaru?" Ichigo guessed, much to Momo's surprise.

"Yes, actually! How did you know?"

Ichigo laughed at the confirmation, "Lucky guess. Doesn't surprise me really. Well, I'm happy for her. Is she coming back?"

"When school starts again in January," Momo said. It suddenly didn't seem that far away anymore.

"Ahh," Ichigo said, "Well, I'm sure she'll be fine. We shouldn't worry about her."

Momo thought about the words. He was right. If there was anything Rangiku could do, it was take care of herself. She was strong and independent, and Momo admired her for it. So she simply smiled in agreement at Ichigo's words. They walked the rest of the way to school together with a lighter conversation in the air. Perhaps Momo could use Rangiku's absence to make new friends.

--

The school day went by very, very slowly. School suddenly had very little meaning when Toshiro wasn't there. Momo paid no attention in any of her classes, and instead wondered what Toshiro was doing at home. After school, Momo anxiously left the building and practically ran home.

When she went upstairs, she found his bedroom door was open. She dropped her bags off in her room, and then peeked inside. She was shocked to see the room vastly emptier. It was actually…. Clean? She then saw Toshiro emerge from the bathroom.

"Oh, hey!" He was pleasantly surprised, "How was school?"

"Dull," She answered honestly, "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning," He said, as he continued to do just that.

"It's weird…" She commented.

He laughed, "I guess. I haven't tidied up in a while. But, eh, my brother…" He chuckled silently to himself, "He wouldn't have it."

"Do you get along?" She asked, entering his room and sitting down causally.

"Yeah," He said, "He's a bit of a prick though. Stubborn. Bad social skills." Momo laughed, and he turned to her and demanded, "What?"

"He sounds like you!" She giggled.

He narrowed his eyes, "Does not."

She smiled slyly, "Does too."

He let a small smile peek through on his face, "Whatever," He placed something in the bathroom then remerged, "What about you?"

"Hmm?" She asked, "What about me?"

"What's your family like?"

"Oh!" She pondered for a minute, "I get along with my parents well. And I have an older sister… she's in a freshman in college now."

"You guys get along?"

"Yeah," She reflected on the times she'd spent with her sister in the past, "Fairly well. Although, she and I aren't very alike."

"How so?"

"She's more… risky and adventurous… while I'm more…" She searched for words, but he answered for her.

"Goody two-shoes?"

She frowned playfully, but had to admit it was true. Laughing, she answered, "Yeah."

She idly dangled her feet off his bed, as he continued picking up things around the room.

"What about your parents? You guys get along?" Momo asked the question with caution. From what she had heard about his parents from Granny, Ukitake and Rangiku, the answer was no. But she was still interested to hear Toshiro's view on his parents.

He silently contemplated her question, before he answered, "Yes." She was shocked, but hid it well. That was unexpected.

"We didn't fight," He said, but his answer seemed to have a hidden meaning. Curious, she pressed the subject.

"Not fighting isn't really the same as getting along," She pointed out.

He sighed and admitted, "That's true." He was silent again, and Momo was reminded of a time when they sat on the bathroom floor together and he shared a personal story with her. He told her about his uncle and the dragon necklace. At that time, she had never really expected him to open up to her at all, but she had hoped, and he came through. But they had come such a long way from then. Toshiro had gradually opened up more and more, and she hoped that this barrier wasn't too big to leap yet.

Her heart raced with joy when he continued, "They… aren't the parental types. They don't show their feelings outwardly. They're very busy with work and other things…" His unspoken words drifted off, but she knew what he meant without him having to say it. There was silence. But it wasn't uncomfortable. It was just two people thinking to themselves, silently enjoying the company. Momo left the room shortly after. However, she did leave her bathroom door open, so every now and then, she could see him walking by the doorway, humming happily to himself as he cleaned.

Tuesday passed by as slowly as Monday, and then Wednesday after that. With Toshiro and Rangiku absent, Momo instead walked to and from school with Ichigo every day. She enjoyed his company, and even got to hear some funny anecdotes about Toshiro. Momo also talked more with other classmates whom she didn't normally talk to, including Renji and Orihime. Renji, whom apparently was childhood friends with Rukia, was actually a lot nicer than he looked, and Orihime reminded Momo a lot of Rangiku, although more reserved and observant. In fact, Orihime asked about Momo's crush on Toshiro within the third day of their chatter. Momo had blushed and attempted to deny it, but Orihime was far too excited for Momo to dissuade her. She went on about 'women's intuition' and cheerfully wished her luck, promising to help in any way she could.

All in all, the week went by quicker than expected, for Momo anyway. Toshiro spent most of the time at home, doing chores Ukitake assigned as additional punishment for the fight. Although, he got the feeling that the only reason the 'punishment' was assigned was because his uncle wanted the house clean for their upcoming guests and didn't feel like doing it himself. Normally, Toshiro wouldn't have taken to well to doing all the work, but considering he had nothing better to do, he didn't really mind. At least he always had Momo to look forward to when school got out. She continued coming into his room after school each day, and he was glad, because he would have missed her otherwise. In fact, he did miss her when she was gone at school and he was left alone. He was wrapped up in thought when he heard the door open. He looked at the clock, even though he'd looked at it almost twenty times in the past five minutes, awaiting her arrival. The door shut, and he happily awaited her to come upstairs. He was like a happy, little puppy- a happy, little lovesick puppy.

---

GUESS WHAT? KAIBASGIRLX(Téa) IS MY NEW BETA! :D HOW EXCITING!! :D


	24. Forgotten Visits

Toshiro sat idly in his room. He had just heard the front door open. It had to have been Momo getting home from school. No one else came home at this time. Normally, he would have been coming in with her. But, of course, he had been suspended after getting into a fight at the school dance.

He anxiously waited for her to come to let him know she was home, and ultimately just spending time talking and hanging out. It was by far the best part of his suspension week. He finally heard his door open, and looked up, expecting to see the small brunette girl, but instead saw a tall, built man with white hair.

"Toshiro!" It was his brother.

"Kensei?" Toshiro asked, surprised.

"Expecting someone else?"

_Yes._ "No," He said cautiously.

"What about that girl?"

"Oh," He calculated his thoughts, trying to only reveal what was necessary, "I suppose so."

A door shut in the background.

Kensei raised an eyebrow, "Alright, then. Well it's nice to see you again, too, punk." He walked out.

Only those two brothers would exchange such a greeting after not seeing each other for almost six months.

Toshiro sat silently reflecting over what had just happened, than upon a sudden realization, quickly followed his brother, not wanting the intimidating man to surprise Momo.

"WAH!" He heard her cry. _Too late._

"Momo!" Toshiro said as he rushed down the staircase.

Kensei was vaguely trying to explain himself to a terrified Momo. She looked up at Toshiro in relief.

"This is my stupid brother," He said, "Kensei, this is Momo Hinamori."

"I'm so sorry!" Momo said emphatically, "I didn't realize…"

"Forget it," Kensei said gruffly, "Nice to meet you, Momo." He extended a hand, which she took. After a firm handshake, Momo picked up her book bag, which she had dropped in her surprise.

"Nice to meet you too, Kensei," She politely said as she walked past him. She smiled at Toshiro as she walked past him and he gave his closest attempt at a smile back to her. The subtle gesture wasn't unnoticed by Kensei. He eyed his little brother suspiciously.

Any vague trace of happiness left the young boy's face upon his eyes meeting with his brother's. "What?"

Kensei narrowed his eyes knowingly, "Nothing." He grabbed his luggage from the foyer and headed off to where he knew the guest room was.

Toshiro watched him leave, and then stood for a moment. This was going to be an interesting week. He slowly turned and headed back up the stairs. An interesting week, indeed.

Toshiro was doing the homework Momo had given him from school when he heard the front door open. A few seconds passed before he heard, "Kensei!" More muffled greetings were exchanged and Toshiro recognized the voices of his brother, uncle and grandmother all chatting. Ukitake laughed loudly. Granny reprimanded him. Kensei began talking a low, serious voice. Toshiro shrugged it off. That was everyone's normal behavior anyway. Toshiro had only just tuned out the sounds when he heard thudding coming up from the stairs. The loud clanks had to have been his brother. The door opened rudely and sure enough it was Kensei.

"Hey," Kensei came into the room and lounged casually on the bed. Already he was getting too comfortable; Toshiro sighed. "We're going out to dinner. Get Momo and let's go." Both got up to leave the room, but then suddenly Kensei turned around and shut the door. He walked towards Toshiro with a serious look on his face.

Toshiro frowned, "You gonna kill me now or something?"

Kensei narrowed his eyes, not amused by his brother. "I need to ask you a question, in all seriousness."

"Okay…" Toshiro said, not at all understanding where the conversation was going.

"Do you like Momo?"

Toshiro's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting _that_. "What!?" He asked in a shocked voice, barely above a whisper.

"Do you like her, romantically?"

"What's it to you?"

"Answer the question."

"Yes." Of course he liked her.

Kensei cringed. This was not the answer he'd been hoping for.

"What!?" He demanded.

"Do you realize how inappropriate it would be if you two were together and living in the same household?!" Kensei replied angrily in a harsh whisper.

"Aw!" Toshiro put his face in his hands upon realizing what his brother was implying, "Do you really think-!?" He couldn't continue. The thought of him and Momo-

"Look," Kensei continued, "Just don't become anything more than friends with her. Trust me. It's a bad idea."

Toshiro frowned. His brother had a point, although it wasn't as if he was planning on asking her out anytime soon anyway.

Both heard Granny calling from downstairs. Kensei gave him a final look, than left the room. Toshiro contemplated for a moment than gave a sharp knock on Momo's door.

"C'mon. We're going out to eat," He quickly called through the door. He walked away hastily, before she could come out. He wasn't quite ready to face her after that conversation.

The dinner went well. It was mostly Ukitake and Granny catching up with Kensei. When they went home, the evening proceeded as normal.

The next day was Friday- the last day of Toshiro's suspension, as well as the last day of school before winter break. Kensei continually pestered him all day and succeeded in convincing him to go out on multiple excursions such as some last minute shopping. They arrived back at home early in the evening. The whole house ate in, and afterwards, Ukitake managed to convince everyone to play various 'family fun' games like charades and Pictionary. They all had fun- even though some would have been reluctant to admit it. Then, they all went to bed, and awaited tomorrow: December 20th, Toshiro's birthday.

Momo's heart wouldn't stop racing as she lay in her bed. She was very excited for Toshiro's birthday tomorrow. She'd taken the opportunity of Toshiro being out of the house to sneak off with Orihime and do some shopping. Christmas was right around the corner, as well as Toshiro's birthday, and Momo didn't have anything at all! The season had snuck up on her, and she found herself strangely unprepared. Upon hearing about Toshiro's birthday, Orihime insisted she take Momo out gift shopping. She was still very enthusiastic about setting her new friend up with her crush. Normally, Momo would have probably politely declined, but she really needed to go shopping, and really liked Orihime, despite having just met her. So, Friday after school, Momo and Orihime headed off to the downtown district.

The girls had a lot of fun, and Momo found she was just as at ease with Orihime as she would have been with Rangiku or Rukia. Orihime's mellow company was also a nice break from her other friends' constant outgoing and often profane behavior, as much as she loved them. The two found many gifts for family and friends, and finally Momo's list was wheedled down to just one person: Toshiro.

After what seemed like eternity, the two girls finally settled on a gift, with which Momo was very pleased. She had wrapped it and it was now sitting under her bed. In her excitement, she got up and used her phone as a flashlight. She peeked at the gift and opened the gift tag for what must have been the hundredth time:

_To: Toshiro_

_Love, Momo_

She smiled at her cursive script. "Love, Momo." Butterflies ran through her stomach as she closed her phone and crawled back into bed. She eventually become tired and fell asleep.

Morning came too soon when Taco Palace burst through the air.

_Rangiku!_ Momo instinctively cursed her friend for her calling habits, but then suddenly shot up in realization. Rangiku was calling! She hadn't talked to her since she'd left a week earlier. She'd considered calling, but didn't want her friend to know she was worried. She had figured she would call when she was ready.

Momo's hand shot to her phone on the table and answered, "Hello?"

"Momo!" Rangiku's cheery voice so early in the morning never ceased to amaze her.

"Hey, how are you? Where are you? How've you been? How's Gin?" The questions flew out of Momo; she was so curious!

"Whoa there cowboy!" Rangiku laughed, she sounded really happy, "I'm good! We've been moving around, staying here and there. Don't worry about me! I'll see you very soon, and I'll give you all the details! Before school starts again, I promise!"

Momo wasn't satisfied with this answer, but didn't really have a choice in the matter so she relented. "Okay, well hurry back!"

Rangiku laughed. "Anyway, as much as I love you girly, I didn't call to talk to you. A certain birthday boy hasn't answered his cell phone for several minutes and I was hoping you could put me through."

Momo looked at the clock. "It's nine, Rangiku. I'm not going to wake him up at nine so you can talk to him. Especially not on his birthday!"

"Oh, quit it," Rangiku teased, "He'll be happy to wake up to your face anyway!"

Momo blushed. "Rangiku!"

"Just do it! Please, for me!"

"Fine!" Momo relented, "Hold on."

Momo walked through the bathroom. The doors were always left unlocked now.

She cautiously opened his door, and saw him sleeping soundly in his bed. _So cute,_ she thought.

"Toshiro," She softly called from a distance. He barely stirred.

She got closer and called a little louder, "Toshiro?" She thought she saw his eyes flutter. She walked closer to his face to check. She watched his eyes blink open and stare at her blankly. A soft smile spread across his face.

"Hey," he whispered happily.

She couldn't help but smile in return. Than the moment ended and she fumbled for an excuse as to why she was intruding into his room. She pushed the phone at him. "Rangiku."

He took the phone, dazed. "Hello?" He sounded half asleep and his eyes drifted from open to closed.

Momo could hear her friends loud cheering from the other side of the phone. Toshiro simply said "thanks", and pushed the phone back at Momo. Rangiku was still going when Momo put her ear back to the earpiece. Rangiku insisted Momo give the phone back to Toshiro, but Momo refused. After a short, playful spat, the two hung up, and Momo turned her attention back to Toshiro. His eyes were wide open now, and he was just watching her happily.

She blushed. He looked so cute. His hair was messed up, and he was curled up in his bed looking comfortable. He had a playful grin on his face. She was at a loss for words to say, when suddenly she remembered.

"Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks," He began to get up, and she clumsily excused herself. He grinned after her, watching her go.

He slowly got up and dressed. Sixteen years old, huh? What would happen this year? What would happen, indeed.

Toshiro finally came downstairs to find the entire household sitting around the kitchen counter eating pancakes.

"Happy Birthday!" Ukitake cried first, upon first sighting his nephew. The others chimed in after him, and Granny hugged him. Ukitake forced a plate of pancakes on him, which he took without complaint.

All five were eating at the counter when suddenly Momo got up, and ran out of the room.

"Momo?" Ukitake called after her.

Toshiro got up to follow her.

She pointed outside the window. "Snow!" She cried joyously.

Sure enough, white flakes were falling from the sky, and lightly covered the grass of the front yard. Without bothering to put on shoes, she threw on a coat and went outside. The adults laughed knowingly. Toshiro chose to follow her instead. He put on his coat and went outside.

"It's snowing!" She exclaimed, twirling around in the snow.

"It does that a lot," He replied calmly.

"Not where I'm from," She said, her spirits not at all dampened by his usual pessimissticattitude.

He watched her play for awhile, before he noticed her patting snow down into a small ball.

"Oh, no…" he warned, but she only smiled devilishly in response. She threw it at him, but he easily dodged.

He smirked at her, and began scooping up snow and chasing her. The two playfully threw snow at one another as the others watched on from the kitchen window.

Kensei watched critically. He hoped his brother would take his advice. Getting into a relationship with that girl was _not_ a good idea. Not a good idea at all…

--

I have no excuse. ___


	25. The Huge Fight

So. Just to clarify, Kensei doesn't want Toshiro to like Momo because he thinks it would be inappropriate. You know how he's so adverted to things that are inappropriate…

SO. We left off with Toshiro's birthday…

A couple hours after lunch, Toshiro received a call from Ichigo suggesting they all meet at the school to celebrate his birthday. Ichigo knew that despite his friend's monotone façade, Toshiro really did enjoy the cold weather. So, at the planned time, Toshiro and Momo set off in the snow, bundled up in layers of clothing and armed with several thermostats of hot chocolate that Ukitake had give them. Momo thought Toshiro actually seemed excited, which made her, in turn, more excited.

They were the first to arrive at the field, or so they thought until they heard 'ATTACK!' and suddenly found themselves victims of a mass snowball attack. Then, several of Toshiro's friends came into view: it was mostly the boys from the soccer team, but Momo was delighted to see Rukia and Orihime as well.

Rukia's maniacal laughter seemed to be consuming her as she approached Momo, who was brushing some snow from her hair.

"Oh man!" She said as she slowly caught her breath, "You-" pant "-should've seen-" pant "-his face…"She began laughing againat the memory.

"You totally frightened me! We had no idea!" Momo gushed, pleasantly surprised by the innocent prank her friends pulled.

"It was Ichigo's plan," Rukia said, finally calming down enough for normal conversation.

At this point, Ichigo began speaking loudly, attempting to direct the group, "Alright guys, so we're going to play a fun pick-up game of soccer for Toshiro. If you're in come over here, otherwise go sit your cold asses on the bleachers."

Momo looked to Rukia to see if she planned on playing. She nodded at Momo, understanding her unspoken question. The two went over to where the other players were standing. The ground crunched lightly under their feet, and Momo speculated that the white coating of snow was going to make this a very interesting game indeed…

Ichigo gave out a bandana to each player. Everyone fastened them around their heads. Momo's blue bandana was tucked under her earmuffs.

Then the group split to their respective sides of the field. Momo noticed she was on the same team as Rukia and Ichigo, but not Toshiro (much to her disappointment). Ichigo took charge of the group huddle.

"Alright, let's see… Tatsuki take center forward, Ishida, mid-field…" Ichigo quickly placed his teammates based on what he knew of their ability, "Momo, do you play?"

"A little…" She admitted, although in reality, her soccer experience had been quite a bit more.

"Where?"

"Defense, sweeper usually," She replied quickly.

"Okay, you'll go there," He relayed, "Rukia, you'll be left defense."

She nodded, then, with vigorous excitement, asked, "Awesome! Where's that?"

Ichigo brought a palm to his forehead, so Momo interjected. "I'll show you."

"Alright," Ichigo said, than continued giving directions as Rukia and Momo headed towards their positions near the goal.

The game began shortly after. Momo watched from afar as the action occurred on the upper part of the field. Her team was doing well, Ichigo and Tatsuki worked together to penetrate Toshiro's team's defenses, which were really just a couple of kids who didn't actually play soccer, so their attack was not particularly impressive. It seemed certain that Tatsuki was about to score when Toshiro appeared out of nowhere and stole the ball. Suddenly he was racing towards Momo, and she began to get nervous. She and Rukia were the only defense standing between Toshiro and the goal, and honestly, Rukia wasn't that much of a threat…

Rukia however, felt no need to calculate the circumstancesand instead rushed forward to attack! Momo was certain that Toshiro would deflect her with ease, but to her surprise, Rukia actually appeared to be doing fairly well. That's when Momo realized—Toshiro was going easy on her! His face was light with amusement at seeing Rukia's wild attemptsto get the ball. However, he realized backup was quickly coming and finally did as Momo initially predicted, and easily weaved around Rukia, getting closer and closer to his goal every second.

Momo went into action. She cut him off, and he attempted to weave around her. But she wasn't about to have that, in no way was he getting this ball past her!

--

Toshiro laughed to himself as he ran past Rukia. She looked completely dumbfounded when she realized he was already several yards away from her. It was then he looked up to see his new opponent, Momo. He grinned, that goal was his, no way wouldshe stop his shot. He attempted to pass by her, but found she had intercepted him. He feinted the other way, than tried to escape, but there she was. The snow was making it impossibly difficult to anticipate how the ball would move. A couple more failed escapes led him to his only other option: force. He began in one direction, and she was on his shoulder, constantly trying to steal the ball. Her body was pressed up on the side of his, which he frankly enjoyed, although he wasn't about to admit to it. It was while he was lost in these thoughts that he noticed the ball wasn't there anymore.

Momo had actually gotten it! And he wasn't even going easy on her! He lunged to regain the ball, but she had already pitched it off back to the other side of the field. Tatsuki had now gained control and was headed quickly towards the goal.

Toshiro gave a slight pant, then turned towards Momo, "Good job."

She pouted at him, "You were going easy on me."

He raised an eyebrow, "No, I wasn't."

She analyzed his face to see if he was lying, and Toshiro couldn't tell if she believed him or not. Suddenly cheering from the other side of the field alerted them to a scored goal. Momo and Rukia cheered wildly, as Toshiro ran back to his teammates. He put his mind in full focus, and watched the ball intently. His team was going to win!

--

Toshiro's team won with a score of 5-3. After the game ended, everyone returned to the bleachers, where many shed a couple layers of clothing. Toshiro had already taken off all his coats leaving just his long-sleeved shirt, undershirt, and scarf.

Momo was sitting on the bleachers with Rukia, Tatsuki, and Orihime. She was drinking some of the hot chocolate Ukitake had given her and Toshiro. It made her insides feel warm. The combination of hot and cold felt intoxicating.

"Wow, Momo," Tatsuki said, interrupting Momo's thoughts, "You're really good."

"Oh," Momo said warmly, "Thanks!"

"You're trying out for soccer right?" She asked.

"Oh!"' Momo said, surprised**. **She hadn't really given it much thought, but now was the time to figure it out. Pre season conditioning would be starting soon. "I don't know," She finally responded.

"You definitely should," Tatsuki encouraged, "You're sure to make the team!"

"Thanks! Maybe I will…"

"It's loads of fun!" Orihime burst in, "You'd really enjoy it!"

Momo thought for a moment. She really had enjoyed playing today, and it wasn't as though she had any real reason not to…

"I think I will." She decided.

"Great!" Orihime gushed, "This is going to be great! We can practice with some base-ball soccer! I'm so excited!"

--

Eventually, the cold ended the party, and everyone went their separate ways. Toshiro, Momo, and Ichigo were last to leave and the three began walking home. When it was time to part, Ichigo gave Toshiro one last birthday wish (in the form of 16 punches) than both parties headed towards their houses.

It was about dinner time when they arrived, and Ukitake informed them of the plan: they were going to one of Toshiro's favorite restaurants, so Toshiro and Momo went upstairs to change. Momo put on one of her favorite dresses and headed downstairs to find everyone waiting for her. Embarrassed, she quickly put on her coat, and they all went.

After eating, they came back to the house. They all had cake, and gave Toshiro his birthday gifts. He seemed genuinely happy; Momo even saw a full-blown smile a couple of times, particularly when he opened her gift. It was a book. She'd read it once, and thought he'd enjoy it. He seemed pleased with it, and she was relieved to find he hadn't already read it.

Toshiro went to bed reading the book, and Momo went straight to bed, tired from the day's events.

The next day, Momo went out shopping again with Granny, she really enjoyed her company, and the two had lots of fun. When they got back to the house, the boys were out, so the two began to wrap things. In the evening, Kensei, Ukitake and Toshiro came back with a small Christmas tree, which they set up. Toshiro went to the attic to get decorations and they all put them up together. Ukitake put on a Christmas CD. Every now and then, Momo got to enjoy a story about Toshiro and Kensei's childhood as they dug up their old handmade ornaments. Granny and Kensei eventually broke off to start dinner (and as the rest later found out, cookies!). The evening was warm and magical, and Momo felt like she completely belonged. It was a warm fuzzy feeling, and she loved it. It was like living in an old Christmas special! After the cookies, they all went to bed.

Momo slept in the next morning, and was actually awoken by Toshiro's knocking at the door, who normally woke up significantly later than her. It was about 10:30, and Toshiro was already up and dressed. He'd been checking to see if she was awake, as Ukitake was about to vacuum, but accidentally woke her up instead.

Momo quickly went downstairs, slightly disturbed by her late rise. She found the whole house wide awake and cleaning, preparing the house for their guests. She was embarrassed that they had been working without her, but Ukitake assured her it was fine. Upon insisting that she help, Ukitake offered her the bathroom cleaning duties and she accepted anxiously.

Promptly after eating her cereal, Momo raced upstairs and changed into proper cleaning clothes. She found Toshiro already in the bathroom cleaning.

"Oh no!" She cried.

He looked up, concerned, "What?!" He cried.

"I was going to clean the bathroom!" She pouted.

His panic quickly left his face, and his expression turned smugand chiding, "You wanted to clean the bathroom?"

"Yes!"

"Well aren't you the odd one…" He teased.

She glared at him playfully, "Come on! Let me help!"

He grinned, "Fine." He handed her the spray he was using on the mirror. "I'll go get the mop," He told her as he left.

Momo happily took over his job cleaning the mirror. He soon came back with the swiffer-like mop and liquid soap. He closed the drain in the sink and began filling it with water. He poured in a bit of soap, then stuck the mop in.

"Oh!" Momo cried, "Let me!"

Toshiro looked amused. He gave her the handle, "Go for it."

Momo hoisted the mop out of the sink and brought it to the floor. Soap and water quickly spread from where the mop met the floor. Toshiro jumped onto the counter and sat to watch her as she worked. Soon, soap was all over the floor, and Momo was sliding as she walked, earning chuckles from Toshiro. But soon, she slid just a little too much and was fell on her ass. Toshiro laughed but got off the counter to help her, but instead fell right next to her. Momo began laughing, as Toshiro got up, looking pretty annoyed. But much to her surprise, he grabbed a handful of foamy water from the sink and dropped it on her.

She gasped and glared at him, getting to her feet, "You did not just do that!"

"Do what?" He said innocently.

Her stare intensified as she retaliated, throwing more bubbles at him. Soon, they were in an all out war, both completely soaked as bubbles began filling the entire room. Momo shrieked with laughter as Toshiro slipped and fell into a pile of bubbles, but she soon yelped as he pulled her down as well.

And at some point during their fight, Momo had justa flicker of a hope, that maybe things would just stay like that moment forever.

--

I DEEPLY AND HUMBLY APOLOGIZE LIKE URAHARA DID WHEN ICHIGO CAME BACK FROM THE SOUL SOCIETY. O___O

Thanks to kaibasgirlx who beta'ed'ed this, whose comments were very excellent and made me laugh, and is encouraging me to work faster/better!


End file.
